The Scottish Government publishes information on “Homelessness assessment decisions” which provides data on the number of homeless applications which are assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness. Information has been collected and is available by local authority for the years 2002-03 to 2020-21.

The data can be found in Table 11 of the Main Tables (June 2021) associated with the latest Homelessness in Scotland: 2020-21 publication.

The fleets that are currently leased by Abellio ScotRail are noted within the Franchise Agreement (APPENDIX 1 TO SCHEDULE 1.1 - The Train Fleet - Table 1).

public-register-franchise-variation-east-kilbride-kilmarnock-and-barrhead-capacity-improvements-6-december-2018.pdf (transport.gov.scot)

The new operator, ScotRail Trains Ltd, is currently engaging with fleet owners to secure the rolling stock needed to maintain service provision.

In September 2019 there were 1,073 teachers in Secondary schools whose main subject was music.

Of these 1,073 teachers, 1,007 had posts in September 2020 (irrespective of subject taught or setting) and 66 did not have a post in publicly funded Scottish school.

The 1,007 with posts in the 2020 teacher census includes those recorded as not teaching at the time because they were either on leave or seconded from their post (e.g. on maternity leave).

Data from the September 2021 teacher census will be published on the 14th of December.

Throughout the pandemic, the Scottish Government has emphasised to Boards, Health and Social Care Partnerships and Local Authorities the on-going need to promote both the physical and the psychological wellbeing of everyone working in health and social care.

This year the Scottish Government has made available £12 million to support the wellbeing of the health and social care workforce. This includes £8 million from the NHS Recovery Plan to provide ongoing wellbeing support alongside an additional £4 million for practical, emotional and evidence-based psychological support to help staff as they respond to winter pressures.

The Scottish Government’s national resources complement the range of support measures that are available across health and social care organisations: the 24/7 National Wellbeing Helpline, the National Wellbeing Hub, Coaching for Wellbeing, the Workforce Specialist Service and additional funding for psychological interventions and therapies specifically for the workforce.

We are working with partners to develop further support measures and additional resources for Boards, social care providers and others who employ frontline staff as they respond to winter pressures.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04124 on 24 November 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

The Scottish Government has announced investment of £580m in ports and vessels to support and improve Scotland’s ferry services over the next five years, as part of our wider Infrastructure Investment Plan, unveiled in February 2021. This builds on this Government’s commitment to our island and remote communities which, since 2007, has seen us invest more than £2bn in the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Service, the Northern Isles Ferry Service and the supporting vessel and harbour infrastructure.

As part of these investment plans, the MV Utne arrived in Scotland last week from Norway and transferred to CMAL on Monday 22 November. MV Utne will undergo modification works and is expected to enter service during the summer 2022 timetable. The announcement (14 September) of the extension of the Islay vessel invitation to tender for a second vessel is welcome and these major additions to the fleet and the resulting cascade effects will bring real benefits across our island and remote communities and businesses in the coming years.

As announced in the NHS Recovery Plan, by the end of 2021 the Scottish Government will publish a National Workforce Strategy that supports the remobilisation, recovery and renewal of Health and Social Care Services. The strategy is being developed in collaboration with NHS Health Boards, COSLA and a wide range of partners, through cross-sectoral reference groups that include NHS Education for Scotland. The strategy establishes a framework and sets out principles which will guide the design and implementation of service-specific workforce plans.

The Scottish Government has committed to develop a long-term Mental Health Workforce Plan in the first half of this Parliament. The Plan will take a system-wide approach to workforce planning for mental health workers, including psychologists, across sectors.

The Scottish Government is working with NHS Education for Scotland to grow the Psychological Therapies workforce, as demand for Psychological Therapies continues to increase.

The proposed May 2022 timetable will (a) result in approximately 26,000 tonnes less CO2 emissions from ScotRail’s fleet per year than the pre-pandemic December 2019 timetable, representing a 12.5% reduction.

The proposed timetable will (b) provide around 593,000 seats per weekday and has been designed to accommodate more than 100 million passenger journeys per year. For context, when the current franchise began, the timetable provided 505,000 seats per weekday and 93.8 million passenger journeys were carried.

ScotRail has confirmed that, (c) as a business, it is currently sized to operate the planned Fit for the Future timetable. As with all businesses, it will need to manage the challenges of a post-pandemic economy, and ScotRail will ensure sufficient staff will be available to meet the Fit for the Future timetable, which will see more trains operating than now.

The proposed May 2022 timetable, which is subject to review of consultation responses, would provide more seats on every day of the week compared to the current timetable.

Figures for December 2019, current capacity and the proposed May 2022 timetable are shown below.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-04124 on 24 November 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