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The Scottish Government is aware of emerging access issues within NHS Dumfries and Galloway, noting that this is an area which has suffered disproportionately with dental workforce issues in the past – an issue has only been heightened by the significant loss of EU workforce as a result of Brexit.

While an overall assessment of the impact of local access issues has not been undertaken, as it is a matter for the NHS Board, Scottish Government is working closely with the recently appointed Board Dental Taskforce to help understand and mitigate against the drivers of access issues. This includes strategic planning on the design and implementation of more sustainable dental services across the Board area. While this work continues, unregistered patients will continue to be able to access emergency and urgent care via Public Dental Service clinics.

The Scottish Government does not stipulate that private companies have to offset carbon emissions.

As Circularity Scotland is a private company, we therefore did not make any stipulation to them that they must offset any such emissions.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18901 on 21 June 2023. 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

The Scottish Government and our overseas offices work to advance Scotland’s interests, including those of our universities. Our international network will continue to invest in our international relationships and support our universities to engage globally.

As an autonomous body it is for Glasgow Caledonian University to decide on its strategic direction, including investment in particular areas of activity such as overseas campuses.

We do not collect national-level data associated with this provision. Breakfasts are being provided across Scotland by a range of service providers including public, private and third sector. Some of this provision has been and continues to be supported through Scottish Government funding.

In 2021, Scottish Government officials began exploring with Starlink the possibility of becoming a Reaching 100% Programme Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) supplier.

At that time, Starlink chose not to register as a provider for the scheme.

Earlier this year, officials requested a further meeting with Starlink to explore whether they might reconsider their position.

Although not currently registered as an R100 SBVS supplier, Starlink do offer commercial services across most parts of Scotland.

According to the latest Scottish Government Early Learning and Childcare census data from September 2022, 99% of 3- and 4-year-olds, and 14% of 2-year-olds, are estimated to be registered for funded early learning and childcare (ELC), and 18% of these child registrations are of children with additional support needs. The 2022 Parents’ Survey found that 85% of parents with children with additional support needs were satisfied that funded ELC meets their child’s needs.

Although we do not have data on how many hours of funded ELC these children are accessing, given these overall figures we envisage that a significant proportion of eligible children with additional support needs are currently accessing their entitlement to 1,140 hours of funded childcare. We are currently developing the ELC census and are looking to collect more information on the characteristics of children accessing funded ELC, and the hours they are registered for.

The data gaps identified by Audit Scotland relate to different elements of funded early learning and childcare (ELC). These include workforce movement, the living wage, parental demand, financial data, and the extent to which children with additional support needs are accessing funded ELC. As Audit Scotland note, providing a national overview of ELC data will require action by the Scottish Government, local authorities and other partners.

In relation to data on the movement of childcare staff between different types of provider, the Scottish Social Services Council will be publishing an analysis of staff movement within the Day Care of Children Category before the end of June 2023.

In relation to financial monitoring, the Scottish Government is working to change reporting through local financial returns to produce more detailed information on how much councils have spent specifically on the provision of funded ELC.

For information on action that the Scottish Government is already taking to improve ELC monitoring data in relation to the living wage and children with additional support needs, I refer the member to the answers to questions S6W-18994 and S6W-18992 on 21 June 2023.

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

Based on the existing cost estimates, the Scottish Government will have provided £2,104,833 of grant funding to support the development of the new SEEMiS Early Years system. As is standard procedure, a contingency value of £91,043 has been retained by Scottish Ministers and will only be made available under extenuating circumstances.

The following table summarises the survey work conducted by the Marine Directorate in the Firth of Clyde, between June 2021 and June 2023.