Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40445 on 19 September 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.

Legislation does not require Scottish Ministers to consult before using the Emergency Early Release (EER) power contained within the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 (as inserted by Section 11 of the Bail & Release from Custody Act 2023) due to its emergency function.

Building owners should refer to the existing guidance on Large Panel System (LPS) buildings, which has been available for several years. This guidance supports the investigation of the building’s condition and structural performance, and where necessary, outlines appropriate mitigation measures.

Scottish Government maintains a regular dialogue with BDA Scotland; and is committed to addressing oral health inequalities.

The latest Public Health Scotland statistics to June 2025 show that NHS patient registration in SIMD 1 areas is higher than the Scotland-wide average. This report also indicates that children and adults from the most deprived areas were less likely to have had contact with NHS primary dental care than those living in more affluent areas.

The latest National Dental Inspection Programme results show that the gap between P1 children with no obvious tooth decay, living in the most and least deprived areas, is at its lowest on record – decreasing from 32.2 percentage points in 2010 to 23.5 percentage points in 2024.

I don't recognise the member's timeframe of 3 months. As Independent Contractors, it is the responsibility of NHS dentists to manage their patient lists in line with clinical guidelines.

However, I can advise that the Scottish Government is taking several steps to improve access to NHS dental services across Scotland.

Public Health Scotland statistics published in August show that over 7 million courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered to patients since the introduction of payment reform in November 2023, demonstrating that our policy is delivering on our aims to sustain NHS dental services. The 2025/26 Budget reinforces our commitment to NHS dentistry, with an increase of almost 15% in funding for primary care dental services agreed - taking total funding to over half a billion pounds for the first time.

Furthermore, our recently published Operational Improvement Plan sets out a package of funded actions to bolster the NHS dental workforce and support increased access now and into the future. Within this we will:

• support the dental workforce pipeline through i) the immediate expansion of domestic dental student numbers and ii) the development of an innovative new training package to support international dentists in joining the NHS Scotland workforce; and
• support the ongoing sustainability of practices through revision of our existing allowances to secure and improve access in Scotland’s most rural communities.

The number of women and their offspring who were exposed to diethylstilbesterol (DES) during pregnancy between the 1940s and 1970s in the UK is unknown because there was no central system for recording which medicines were prescribed for individuals at that time and individual paper medical records from this period are unlikely to be retrievable. It is therefore only possible to estimate the number of women exposed. However, DES was not routinely prescribed in the UK.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) uses the findings of a survey conducted by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) which was published in 1974 and this suggested around 7,500 women in the UK were treated with DES during pregnancy in the interval 1940-1971, mostly during the 1950s.

The Scottish Government has one contract with Fujitsu (Case 440206 Electronic Counting for Local Government Elections) to deliver electronic vote counting for Scottish local government elections. The contract commenced October 2020 at a value of £6,345,172 and is currently scheduled to conclude on 16th February 2027. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking an open procurement exercise to re-let this contract.

With regard to future procurement activity, the Scottish Government conducts its procurements in line with Scottish public procurement legislation and Scottish Government policy. All organisations bidding for contracts need to pass the selection criteria detailed in the procurement documents, which will include mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds. Any decision to exclude Fujitsu from participating in Scottish Government tenders will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Where a ground for exclusion applies, a supplier may be able to provide evidence of self-cleansing measures taken to demonstrate their reliability despite the existence of a relevant ground for exclusion, should this evidence prove that the measures taken by the supplier are sufficient then the supplier would not be excluded. These decisions will be made in accordance with regulation 58 of the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

At this time, the Scottish Government is not aware of Fujitsu tendering for any Scottish Government contracts.

Arrangements for IJB decision-making, including the reversal of decisions, may be set out in their local Standing Orders. Statutory finance guidance sets out what IJBs should do, to include making provision in their integration scheme, as regards in-year budget variance.

Preparatory works are progressing well with the design stage completed. The tender package was issued for pricing at the end of August 2025 and the works are currently programmed to commence on site at the start of January 2026.

I can confirm there are currently no plans to implement protest exclusion zones around asylum accommodation.

People have the right of peaceful protest in a democracy, but that must be balanced with safety. The Scottish Government is deeply concerned about some activity targeting asylum accommodation and individuals which creates a sense of real fear and alarm. The Scottish Government strongly believes that everyone has the right to be and feel safe and secure in the place they are living and in the community. No one should have to fear they will be targeted for who they are.

It may be helpful to note that the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee considered a petition calling for buffer zones to be introduced in September 2023. Petition PE2049 was closed on 9 October 2024. Consideration and evidence submitted to the Committee is available on the Scottish Parliament website: PE2049 Introduce buffer zones outside migrant accommodation | Scottish Parliament Website.