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The adoption of the recommendations contained in the Independent External Review of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross Out Of Hours Services is the responsibility of NHS Highland. The recommendations were fully accepted by NHS Highland following the publication of the report in 2018.

The following table provides information on the number of patients under 18 years admitted to hospital where a diagnosis of tooth decay was recorded, from April 1999 to March 2024, in Scotland, by financial year.

Table 1: Number of patients under 18 years admitted to hospital where a diagnosis of tooth decay was recorded, from April 1999 to March 2024, in Scotland, by financial year.

In circumstances where the authority considers that a person’s need for services is a matter of urgency, they have the power to provide community care support to individuals, carers and their families without an assessment under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

Local authorities also have duties under the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 to provide adult carer support plans (ACSP) or young carer statements (YCS) for any carer that wants one and to provide support to carers according to their eligible needs. In circumstances where a carer is caring for someone with a terminal illness, the authority must offer and prepare an ACSP or YCS in set timescales, ensuring associated support is provided in an efficient and timely manner. These responsibilities are set out in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 Statutory Guidance.

The Scottish Government does not collect information on the age profile of scanning equipment held by NHS Boards. As holding bodies, NHS Boards are responsible for the management of their infrastructure assets and for identifying maintenance and replacement requirements.

The online app for health and social care, which is part of our ‘digital front door’ programme, will initially be available to a small cohort of people in Lanarkshire from December 2025. Whilst work continues on preparing for that initial release, we are simultaneously engaging with Health Boards and COSLA to develop the rollout approach beyond Lanarkshire. It is our intention to set this out in more detail from Summer 2025.

All three- and four-year-olds, as well as eligible two-year-olds, have a statutory entitlement of up to 1140 hours per year of funded ELC.

The most recent ELC Census shows that uptake of the funded ELC offer for 3- and 4-year-olds was around 95% of eligible children in 2024. For eligible 2-year-olds, the proportion was 59%.

According to Improvement Service data in September 2024, around 98% of children aged 3 or more receiving funded ELC in September 2024 were reported to be accessing more than 600 funded hours, and 89% were reported to be accessing the full 1140 funded hours. This data also shows around 92% of eligible 2-year-olds reported to be receiving funded ELC in September 2024 were reported to be accessing more than 600 funded hours, and around 77% were reported to be accessing the full 1140 funded hours.

Data for previous years on the number of eligible children accessing funded ELC is available from summary statistics, available here: Early learning and childcare statistics - gov.scot.

Data for previous years (reported quarterly) on the proportion of children accessing funded ELC who have used the full 1140 hours in previous years is available from Improvement Service reports, available here: ELC data collections, reporting and analysis | Improvement Service.

I fully appreciate the need to get bookings released in good time so that businesses and individuals can plan ahead. The Northern Isles Ferry Services contract stipulates that the May CPI rate, which is normally published in June, is used as the basis for the following year’s fares increase together with any other cost pressures such as energy and staff wage increase. We will aim to confirm fares as soon as possible thereafter to allow bookings to be opened as early as possible.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35689 on 27 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35689 on 27 March 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Our workforce plans remain under regular review as we deploy the workforce in line with Ministerial priorities, providing public services as efficiently and effectively as possible, and operating within the direction set out in the Budget.