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We have set out our ambitious plan to remove NHS dental charges in this Parliament. As a first step to delivering this Manifesto Commitment, we introduced on 24 August 2021 changes to abolish dental charges for all young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

There are a present set of arrangements in place to ensure that vulnerable groups in the community are protected. For example, pensioners in receipt of pension credit guarantee credit are automatically entitled to free NHS dental treatment. Others on low incomes may be entitled to full or partial help with health costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme (LIS).

Scotland is the only part of the UK where free examinations are available to NHS patients.

NHS registered patients are entitled to a full range of NHS care and treatment. While dentists are able to offer private care and treatment they must also advise NHS patients of the treatment available to them under NHS arrangements.

Details (including individual project funding allocations) of the 9 research projects funded through the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) long-term effects of COVID-19 infection call are available from the CSO website Long Covid Call – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk) .

The draft National Planning Framework (NPF4) includes a strengthened planning policy position that seeks to proactively enable the reuse of vacant and derelict land and buildings and which notes that demolition should be regarded as the least preferred option. Re-use of vacant and derelict land and buildings has multiple benefits, including contributing to climate change targets.

The draft NPF4 was laid in the Scottish Parliament in November 2021 for a period of scrutiny through to next spring. A public consultation on the draft is running until the end of March 2022 and responses are invited to help inform the final NPF4 which will form part of the development plan and therefore inform priorities in local development plans and day to day planning decision making.

The Scottish Government is not able to provide legal advice. However, the making of a false statement on oath may involve the common law offence of perjury or a contravention of a statutory offence under section 44 of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 .

Conducting proceedings in a manner amounting to an abuse of process may also involve contempt of court and result in the person responsible incurring a penalty. There is provision on penalties for contempt of court in section 15 of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.

The Scottish Government does not intend to review existing legislation in this area at the present time.

Many dental procedures involve the use of an aerosol which, for the safety of both patients and staff, needs to be done under strict Infection Prevention and Control guidelines. This means that NHS dental teams are unable to see the same numbers of patients as before the start of the pandemic.

From February 2022, we will bring in new and increased fees for dentists for a range of treatments, supporting them in their efforts to clear the backlog which has built up during the pandemic. We have already provided £50 million of additional financial support (on top of the budget for General Dental Services), plus supplied £30-£35 million of free PPE, to ensure NHS dental services emerge well-placed to care for the oral health of everyone in Scotland.

The Scottish Government published an updated Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) on 23 November. The BRIA sets out the baseline data currently available and trends, including information from the non-domestic rates valuation roll and about Airbnb, which show a significant growth in the number of properties which are being used for short-term lets.

The BRIA sets out the costs to local authorities and recovery through fees, and provides indicative average fees for a low and high cost scenario. The assumptions behind the average indicative fees for a short-term lets licence have been informed by discussions with local authorities.

The Licensing Order allows local authorities to raise revenue from fees to cover the costs of establishing and running their licensing scheme. The actual fees to be charged will be determined by local authorities following Scottish Government guidance and are likely to include higher and lower tiers, reflecting the varying sizes of premises to be licensed.

The licensing scheme will help to build a comprehensive picture of short-term let activity across Scotland.

The information requested is available from https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/factsheet/2020/02/health-and-wellbeing-census/documents/health-and-wellbeing-census-frequently-asked-questions/health-and-wellbeing-census-frequently-asked-questions/govscot%3Adocument/HWB%2BCensus%2B2021-22%2B-%2BQA%2Bdocument%2B-%2BAugust%2B2021.docx.

Police Scotland collate missing persons statistics and have provided information from the legacy National Missing Person Database and the current National Missing Person Application which is used to record data on missing people.

Prior to 2016 missing persons incidents recorded by the Police Scotland were recorded and broken down by police divisional areas not by individual local authorities. From 2016 Police Scotland has been recording and reporting both missing persons incidents and missing persons episodes.

A missing person incident is an instance where Police Scotland receive a call reporting a missing person and the incident is logged on the command and control system (STORM). A missing person episode is when someone is reported missing to Police Scotland and a police investigation is then initiated and recorded.

Therefore, depending on the circumstances, a missing person incident may or may not become a missing person episode, such as when someone is reported missing and found quickly without the need for a full investigation.

The information the member has asked for can be broken down as follows:

Missing Person Incidents recorded in each police division from 2010.

The A92 A96 Haudagain Improvement project, which was anticipated to be complete in winter 2021, has faced a number of challenges including the impact of the pandemic continuing to disrupt progress. The contractor has indicated a revised date for completing the works, with the Improvement now due to open to traffic by the end of March 2022 as detailed in the recent press release available on the Transport Scotland website at:  https://www.transport.gov.scot/news/a92a96-haudagain-improvement-update-to-expected-completion-date/ .

I also refer the member to the answer to question S6W-05362 on 21 December 2021. 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 .

According to Rape Crisis Scotland, as of October 2020 and December 2021 waiting list times for each centre were as follows: