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NHS dental examinations are free to all in Scotland. Fees for treatment and therefore patient charges have been maintained at the same level for over two and half years.

Patients are required to pay 80% of the cost of their NHS dental treatment up to a maximum per course of treatment of £384, unless they are in one of the groups entitled to free NHS dental treatment or help with the cost. The percentage of fees paid by patients has remained unchanged since 1993 whilst the maximum charge has remained unchanged since 2005.

Help with the cost of NHS dental treatment for adults is mainly based on an assessment of the individual’s ability to pay. Those in receipt of certain benefits are automatically entitled to free NHS dental treatment while others on low incomes may be able to get either full or partial help with costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme.

Over the years the Scottish Government has introduced a range of measures to help improve access to the general dental services, including the opening of the Aberdeen Dental School in 2009, increasing the number of dental therapist being trained and the Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI). Since the SDAI was first introduced in 1997 it has been revised several times, most recently in December 2012 to take account of improvements in access to the General Dentistry Services (GDS) in many areas. From that date grants have been targeted at specific areas still experiencing access problems. In areas which continue to experience gaps in GDS provision, and which can not be filled by an independent dentist, NHS boards can establish a directly employed salaried dental service.

Since 2007, there are nearly 500 more dentist providing NHS general dental services across Scotland.

The National Infertility Group was set up in April 2010 to address the inequity of access to infertility treatment across Scotland. The Group’s report, with final recommendations on future provision of IVF treatment across Scotland, is currently with Ministers for consideration.

For information on the upper age limit for IVF treatment, by NHS Board, I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-13477 on 15 March 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

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There is no lower age limit for access to IVF treatment in any NHS board in Scotland.

Restorative treatment provided under NHS general dental services (GDS) will fall within the same charging arrangement as any other treatment provided under GDS.

Patients are required to pay 80% of the cost of their NHS dental treatment up to a maximum per course of treatment of £384, unless they are in one of the groups entitled to free NHS dental treatment or help with the cost.

Help with the cost of NHS dental treatment for adults is mainly based on an assessment of the individual’s ability to pay. Those in receipt of certain benefits are automatically entitled to free NHS dental treatment while others on low incomes may be able to get either full or partial help with costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme.

The charging arrangements for treatment provided under NHS general dental services are the same whether the treatment is required as a result of an accident or for other reasons.

Patients are required to pay 80% of the cost of their NHS dental treatment up to a maximum per course of treatment of £384, unless they are in one of the groups entitled to free NHS dental treatment or help with the cost.

Help with the cost of NHS dental treatment for adults is mainly based on an assessment of the individual’s ability to pay. Those in receipt of certain benefits are automatically entitled to free NHS dental treatment while others on low incomes may be able to get either full or partial help with costs under the NHS Low Income Scheme.

This information is not currently collected centrally.

The National Infertility Group was set up in April 2010 to address the inequity of access to infertility treatment across Scotland. The Group’s report, with final recommendations, including a recommendation on data collection, is currently with Ministers for consideration.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Health and safety legislation is reserved to the UK Parliament. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the UK Department for Work and Pensions.

In its report on Health and Safety in the New Energy Economy (December 2010), the HSE considers that the general provisions of the existing Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 provides the basis of a fit for purpose regulatory framework for renewable energy generation across both onshore and offshore health & safety regimes.

This framework will be kept under review.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

We believe the analysis by Professor Hughes to be fundamentally flawed and based upon a fallacy that wind turbines that are already approaching 15 years of operation could be considered to “represent a relatively mature technology”. By definition turbines that are approaching 15 years of operation were deployed 15 years ago, precisely when the technology was still at early maturity.

Across the UK, projects in the tenth year of operation represent a maximum of 8.4% of all turbines, and the data behind the projects in the fifteenth year of operation, just 3.6%.

Analysis from independent sector experts Bloomberg New Energy Finance points to four main stages of evolution of turbine technology with earlier models seeing an acknowledged degradation in performance over time. The cause of this degradation varied but included grid incompatibly and mechanical issues such as gearbox problems. However, as the technology has evolved such failings have been addressed and overcome. Modern turbines increasingly use gearless direct drive mechanisms and have greater performance, efficiency and operational availability.