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Overseas visits undertaken by Scottish Ministers help protect and enhance Scotland’s interests, improve global networks, unlock new economic and trading opportunities and create domestic opportunities and benefits for the people of Scotland. For security reasons we do not comment on the future travel plans of the First Minister.

As part of delivery of the Housing to 2040 route map we will work with stakeholders to identify the most effective ways to match availability of accessible housing and demand from those who require an accessible home.

There are no plans to extend the Air Discount Scheme to cover travel by apprentices. Where employers and learning providers are unable to fund travel and subsistence costs for apprentices attending off job formal learning opportunities, Skills Development Scotland will reimburse the costs for residents of Shetland and other Highlands and Islands areas. This would include the full cost of air fares where no public transport alternative is available.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10989 on 3 October 2022. 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 seeks legal advice on an ongoing basis as appropriate and I can confirm that legal advice has been sought on this matter.

The recommendations for the Scottish Government included within the Equality and Human Rights Commission report, Housing and Disabled People: Scotland’s Hidden Crisis are being taken forward as part of the implementation of our Housing to 2040 strategy published in 2021. The specific recommendations regarding Relevant Adjustments to Common Parts (Disabled Persons) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 and guidance to local authorities on setting targets for wheelchair accessible housing were completed in advance of the publication of Housing to 2040.

No plans were made for the First Minister, or any other Minister, to attend the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

The Minister for Environment and Land Reform represented Scotland at the Under 2 Coalition General Assembly, held during the recent 'Climate Week NYC'. Further details of this engagement will be reported to Parliament shortly.

The information requested by Mr Kerr, MSP, is publicly available on the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) website. Last month, the SSSC published official statistics in the ‘ Scottish Social Service Sector: Report on 2021 Workforce Data’ report. This Report contains official statistics dating back to 2012. As well as this report, the SSSC will publish more detailed tables in late 2022, providing a breakdown of the number of people working in all sub-sectors in individual local authority areas.

Public Health Scotland publish figures on the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile. The PHS report shows how uptake in the most deprived areas compares with the least deprived areas. The latest figures were published in May 2022 ( https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/13184/22-05-11-covid19-publication_report.pdf ). The next publication is planned for later this year. This publication will contain uptake data by SIMD for COVID-19 autumn/winter 2022 vaccinations only; there will not be analysis on spring/summer COVID-19 boosters specifically.

The requested information on how many nurses have (a) joined and (b) left the NHS in each year since 2007 is not centrally available.

Information on how many Nursing & Midwifery staff have (a) joined and (b) left the NHS since 2012 can be found in the following link: NHSScotland workforce | Turas Data Intelligence