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Decisions on local staffing requirements and recruitment are the responsibility of individual NHS Boards. However, Scottish Government officials are continually engaging with NHS Boards to identify particular areas of concern.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are delivering a number of campaigns to fill vacancies and to recruit additional staffing. The Board are recruiting 222 Band 3 Health Care Support Workers (HCSW) to their Health and Social Care Partnerships and are targeting the recruitment of a further 200 HCSWs into Acute settings, as well as 20 Band 5 and 20 Band 6 Critical Care nurses. The Board have also recruited over 577 newly qualified nurses who have been commencing throughout October and November with some planning to commence in early 2022.

As a result of local and national efforts to recruit staff in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s staffing levels are up 4.7% or by 1,608.3 whole-time equivalent, since March 2020.

Source: NHS Education for Scotland Official NHS Workforce publication, data at June 2021.

Our enterprise and skills agencies provide funding and specialist advice and support for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to help them better transition to a low carbon economy, with the majority of services advertised through the Find Business Support website. Tailored support includes advice on the low carbon opportunities available to SMEs in the net zero supply chain.

The Scottish Government has committed over £2 billion of capital funding over the next parliament to deliver low carbon and natural infrastructure. This includes our Green Jobs Fund, which is a five year, £100 million fund offering capital investment to businesses to help them create green employment through investment in improved green products and services and related research and development.

More people than ever in Scotland are being offered the free flu vaccine to help protect as many lives as possible this winter. The flu vaccination programme commenced on 6 September and will run until March 2022.

We are seeking to offer the flu vaccine at the same time as providing COVID-19 boosters for everyone eligible, 6 months should have passed since a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before a booster is administered. However there is some flexibility to offer a booster vaccination to the most vulnerable groups after five months.

This means that this is the biggest and most complex vaccination programme there has ever been, and has led to some people being offered their flu vaccine slightly later than normal but they will still receive them within the recommended timescale.

We remain on track with Scotland’s autumn/winter vaccination programme which has been prioritising the most vulnerable by either inviting them to come forward for a vaccination or by visiting in settings such as care homes.

The online self-booking portal for adults aged 50 to 59, those over 16 who are unpaid carers and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals launched on 15 November, with 1,940,611 people having received their flu vaccine in Scotland by week commencing 21 November

The primary objective of the booster programme is to maintain protection against severe COVID-19 disease, specifically hospitalisation and deaths over winter 2021-22, and is aimed at maintaining protection in those most vulnerable, and to protect the NHS.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) reviewed all the currently available evidence and data in respect of the newly emerging Omicron variant of COVID and has concluded that a COVID-19 booster vaccination should not be given within three months of completion of the primary course. They have advised that the booster vaccination should now be offered in order of descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a COVID-19 at-risk group.

We will continue to work at pace to deliver booster doses in line with this new JCVI advice.

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-04212 and S6W-04213 on 25 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 .

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-03671 and S6W-03672 on 17 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 .

Although final figures are not yet confirmed, we know up to 9,000 people have benefited from NTTF skills support in year one. Many year one courses were delivered by colleges and universities over the academic year from September 2020 to July 2021 so it is not possible to disaggregate figures to the end of March. Final figures for year one training will be published early in 2022 following verification of data.

Training opportunities were managed and delivered by a wide range of partners, including the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Creative Scotland and the National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland, alongside Scotland’s colleges and universities. Courses and placements were of varying length and cost but no direct award of funds to meet the cost of training courses were made to individuals.

In 2021-22, local authorities have been allocated an annual share of £23.5 million for homelessness prevention and response measures and an annual share of £8 million to support the implementation of rapid rehousing transition plans. The Scottish Government has also offered a range of non-financial support. This includes clarifying the process for funding to build new accommodation, dedicated engagement with local authorities facing the most significant challenges and hosting an event that brought all Scottish local authorities together to share good practice to support compliance with the Order.

Recent engagement has shown that all local authorities are making positive progress towards reducing the use of unsuitable accommodation. The Scottish Government will continue to work with local authorities to sustain this progress and identify support to help overcome barriers.

As set out in the Programme for Government 2021 - 22, published on 7 September 2021, the Scottish Government is committed to establishing a dignified and compassionate miscarriage service by the end of 2023. This commitment includes ensuring women’s services have dedicated facilities for women experiencing unexpected pregnancy complications.

As part of delivering on this commitment, we will carry out a scoping exercise to establish current service provision across all 14 Health Boards and host a series of roundtables to discuss with stakeholders what more can be done to improve miscarriage care and support for women who experience complications during pregnancy. The first roundtable will take place in early 2022.

The Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) is a £180m package of funding over five years that will provide capital support to accelerate low-carbon infrastructure projects that will be essential to deliver net zero. The Fund will make £100 million available to support renewable hydrogen projects in line with our Hydrogen Policy Statement.

Policy officials are finalising the eligibility and project assessment criteria for the EETF, and have invited views on this from stakeholders by 19 January 2022.

Views can be provided at https://consult.gov.scot/energy-and-climate-change-directorate/hydrogen-action-plan/ .

Further details on the Fund and its eligibility criteria will be provided in early 2022 alongside a call for projects.