Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S6T-00019 on 26 May 2021. The answer is available on the Parliament's website at: Official Report - Parliamentary Business : Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Government has recently announced a suite of measures to continue to support NHS dentistry, including a vital funding package of up to £5M for improved ventilation in dental premises, and an extension of free PPE for the dental sector, which from July will increase by up to 50%. This builds on the continued phased remobilisation of NHS dental services, ensuring that as many patients can be seen within the current set of infection, protection and control measures required for the safe operation of dental treatment.

NHS dental services are largely provided by independent dental contractors. Information on appointments is held by each individual dental practice.

There are 3 specialist endometriosis centres in operation in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow all of which serve patients outside the NHS board area in which they are based.

Driver and vehicle licensing and testing is reserved to the UK government. The UK government have advised that despite the circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent disruption to practical driving tests, the validity period of theory test pass certificates will not be extended. They have advised that their reasoning is that road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills need to be up to date (tested within the previous two years) when restarting driving lessons and driving tests. This is not an area that the Scottish Government has responsibility for. We are, however, in regular dialogue with the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) who administer and deliver driving tests on behalf of the UK government to explore ways in which the number of practical driving tests being delivered in Scotland can be expedited. Our understanding is that the DVSA are recruiting additional driving test examiners to increase the number of practical tests that they can deliver including at weekends.

The principal means of meeting the 2035 rail service net zero target will be to continue the Scottish Government’s rolling programme of electrification. Thanks to a programme of investment delivered by the Scottish Government consistent with this approach, some 75% of Scottish rail passenger journeys are already on electric trains. Regrettably, only 45% of rail freight movements in Scotland are electric, chiefly due to the lack of electrification to key freight terminals and ports at the English end of the freight journey.

Concerning investment in Hydrogen trains, I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-00852 on 1 July 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 .

We can confirm that the first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine into Scotland, was on the 5 December 2020.

The Scottish Government aims to reduce the diagnosis time for endometriosis. The Scottish Government’s soon to be published Women’s Health Plan (WHP) includes a number of actions to improve access to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis.

While there are no plans at the moment to introduce a waiting time guarantee and standard for endometriosis diagnosis and treatment we will continue to work with people with lived experience, Endometriosis UK and Public Health Scotland to identify realistic targets to measure improvement. The existing waiting times standards and guarantees for elective care continue to apply. NHS Board elective activity continues to remobilise at a safe pace, ensuring capacity remains in place to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as required.

Further to the answer provided to S6W-00200 on 3 June 2021, Scottish Ministers considered all options for the future operation of ScotRail services after the current contract, which is expected to expire in March 2022. We have to work within current UK rail legislation, principally the Railways Act 1993, which neither the Scottish Ministers nor the Scottish Parliament have powers to change.

Having regard to the framework set out in the 1993 Act, the Scottish Ministers’ revised Franchising Policy Statement, the continuing uncertainty arising from the Covid 19 pandemic and the delay in publication of the UK Government’s White Paper on rail, the Scottish Ministers considered that it would not be appropriate to award a franchise agreement to any party at this time. We are therefore undertaking mobilisation arrangements for a wholly owned company of the Scottish Government (ScotRail Trains Ltd.) to provide ScotRail services when the current franchise expires. This is in line with our duty under section 30 of the 1993 Act to provide or secure the provision of passenger rail services where a franchise agreement comes to an end and no further franchise agreement has been entered into in respect of the services.

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 .

Green Jobs Fund comprises two tranches of money – £50m which has been baselined into our Enterprise Agencies capital funding; and £50m under the direct control of Scottish Ministers. As of 25 June 2021, no specific projects have been funded for 2021-22. Scottish Enterprise are currently in the process of a green jobs call to business. The first application window, offering grants between £50k and £500k, closes on Thursday 1 July. Awards will be made in early September 2021. Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise are directing their support towards businesses already within their knowledge base and expect to make related awards by the end of September 2021. The policy for the second tranche of funding is currently under development and we expect to make related awards in October 2021.

The recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Endometriosis fall into 4 main categories; a commitment to drive down diagnosis times, to ensure access to appropriate care, awareness and investment in research.

The Scottish Government’s soon to be published Women’s Health Plan (WHP) includes a number of related actions to improve access, for women, to appropriate support, speedy diagnosis and best treatment for endometriosis.