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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.

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: . The RTPI has also published its report . 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.

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.

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 /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.

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.

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 /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.

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 .

National Records of Scotland publish a wide range of statistical data with regards to population and migration in Scotland.

Skills Development Scotland publish annual Regional Skills Assessments (RSAs), which provide detailed information on regional labour markets. The latest RSA for the South of Scotland region was published in October 2025. The data included in these publications, including Oxford Economics forecast data, is the most up-to-date available at the time of writing. Forecasts are provided by sector, occupation and for the medium and longer term up to 2035.

The Convention of the South of Scotland (CoSS) aims to strengthen alignment between the Scottish Government, Dumfries and Galloway Council, the Scottish Borders Council and public agencies delivering in the South of Scotland to drive inclusive growth. Labour market shortages are regularly discussed, most recently at its last meeting in Spring 2025, when the focus was on Transport. Local businesses joined the previous meeting in Autumn 2024, which was chaired by the Deputy First Minister, where the agenda focussed on skills and employment issues in the region. Minutes from the meeting can be found

Labour market and skills shortages, and the impact that this has on businesses is something that Ministers discuss frequently, including with business directly, and has also been the focus of discussion at the NSET Delivery Board.