Chamber and committees

I apologise for getting the first bit of my question—about moving on to the adult disability payment—mixed up. Clearly, that is being monitored, but do you feel confident that things are improving and that we are making progress in that respect?

I have no interests to declare.

Good morning, panel, and thank you for coming along today. We now have updated financial information on the bill from the Scottish Government. What assessment have you made of the updated information and do you have any areas of concern regarding that information?

I have a short question for Stephen Bermingham. You have spoken about recruiting volunteers once a year and possibly increasing that to twice a year. Why do you not have a rolling on-going recruitment programme? What is the thinking behind that? Many years ago, I considered applying, but, when I looked online, recruitment was closed. Obviously, I am not the only person who will have done that.

Ben Farrugia talked about whether you have the people and capacity to deliver the changes. Joanna Anderson, do you want to comment on that?

That is fantastic. It is good to hear that there is that positive commitment and shared focus.

I have another very short question, but I should first say that I entirely appreciate and understand the logic behind this. With the current cost of living crisis et cetera, will you be closely monitoring the situation, just in case it throws up any issues?

Are there any concerns that the increased costs will discourage those who pay for part of their NHS dental treatment from seeing their dentist? Could that have an impact on sustainability and early treatment?

Thank you very much.

Minister, we know that dental services have been struggling to recover to pre-pandemic levels and that there has been a significant backlog of patients awaiting treatment. How will the reforms enhance the recovery and sustainability of NHS dentistry in the short term and the long term?