The Scottish Government publishes statistics on the numbers of homes that have been empty for 6 month or more annually. The local authority breakdown is available from the Scottish Government website at: Housing statistics: Second homes and empty properties - gov.scot.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-41902 on 1 December 2025. 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.

This is an operational matter for ScotRail Trains Ltd. The member may wish to contact ScotRail Trains Ltd directly to obtain the information related to complaints received by it.

The Scottish Government does not routinely monitor the progress of planning applications through the system.

However, we have worked closely with the housebuilding industry and planning authorities to remove barriers on stalled housing sites across Scotland. This has included addressing infrastructure issues, for example flooding and drainage, education, and transport, covering road and rail. We have taken actions that benefit multiple sites, for example sharing advice and best practice, and undertaken brokerage on specific sites.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of staff currently employed in local authority planning services, nor in other sectors.

Research commissioned by Skills Development Scotland, published in 2021, estimated that there were approximately 1600 people employed in the planning profession in Scotland and that over the next 10-15 years the planning sector would have demand for an additional 700 entrants into the sector.

More recently, the National Planning Improvement Champion has undertaken a workforce and capacity study and published the findings at: National Planning Improvement Workforce and Capacity Report Scotland. The RTPI has also published its report scotland-sotp-final.pdf. We are currently considering the findings of these reports.

The Scottish Government recognises the financial and capacity pressures on the planning system and is continuing to take forward a package of changes to provide authorities with additional resources. Planning fees were increased in line with inflation in December 2024, June 2025 and a further increase is scheduled for April 2026.

In addition, Scotland’s National Planning Hub continues to provide additional funding and targeted practical support to help authorities respond to pressing challenges, enabling them to accelerate key activities this financial year.

We are also supporting an increase in planners coming into the profession, having recruited 17 Student Planners on our Future Planners Programme, working across the Scottish Government for 23 months whilst undertaking a funded planning postgraduate degree, and we trebled the number of bursaries in 2025-26 to help 30 planning students with course fees and living expenses.

Scottish Ministers can utilise ferry services for business purposes. I have included a table which provides a breakdown of the most recent ferry journeys by current Scottish Ministers.

These are operational matters for ScotRail as the train operating company. The Member may wish to contact ScotRail directly.

In addition, Office of Rail and Road publishes information on punctuality via its statistics portal, which the Member can access here.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-42074 on 27 November 2025. 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 instructed ScotRail to carry out necessary recruitment to secure staff to allow ScotRail to deliver the best possible customer service to its passengers. Further to this, ScotRail’s staffing levels are currently at an all-time high.

Whilst the Scottish Government expects that ScotRail strives to provide the best possible service to people of Scotland, this is an operational matter for ScotRail.

Results of the passenger satisfaction survey carried out regularly by the independent transport watchdog, Transport Focus, show that ScotRail achieves better scores than many other train operators in GB. ScotRail performs better in all areas when compared to the GB average.

As part of our £85 million commitment to the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal, Scottish Government will invest up to £7 million in developing skills in the South of Scotland. The project will work with regional partners to respond to the identified future skills and knowledge exchange needs.

Our enterprise agencies play a key role in promoting economic and business growth and supporting capital investment in Scotland’s places and industries of the future. They also work closely with partners to resolve issues which can present a barrier to business growth, such as skills and training, transport and local housing provision, helping businesses expand, remain in their local area and employ more people. Last year (2024-25) South of Scotland Enterprise invested £12.5 million in business and community enterprises, supporting 377 full-time equivalent jobs and leveraging £23.5m of funding for the region.