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The Scottish Government has no plans to fund research into the animal welfare impacts of electronic training aids at this time.

The Scottish Government has not instructed its framework suppliers of IT equipment not to deliver equipment and supplies to people working from home.

Scottish public sector organisations using these frameworks can directly engage with suppliers to discuss their specific order, build and delivery requirements. The procurement frameworks have the flexibility to accommodate requests for bespoke delivery, including home delivery.

Scottish Government officials have discussed the position regarding dog training aids with the Kennel Club through e-mail exchanges in September and October this year.

The review of the effectiveness of the Scottish Government Guidance on Dog Training Aids will consider all relevant information supplied by stakeholders, including the latest publication from the University of Lincoln researchers.

The Scottish Government expects to publish its review of the effectiveness of the Guidance on Dog Training Aids, including an analysis of responses to its stakeholder survey, before the end of this year.

During the ongoing Covid pandemic, from March 2020 to 30 September 2020, the Scottish Government has contributed £6.5m to the demand-led Scottish Growth Scheme and this has unlocked additional public, private sector and European investment of £56.7m (£63.2m in total) in the form of debt and equity for 136 businesses. The Scottish Growth Scheme is a private sector match funding initiative which responds to private sector demand led requests for support, and is not Public Funding waiting to be allocated.

Since creation of a national investment bank was announced in the September 2017 Programme for Government, the Scottish Government has spent £12.795 million in real terms (£12.725 million in nominal terms) to 31 March 2020 on the programme for delivery of the Scottish National Investment Bank. Work is continuing for delivery of the Bank this year and budget for this is included in the 2020-21 budget settlement.

Applications for funding through the Creative Communities programme are currently being assessed. Details of the successful projects and organisations, amount received, purpose and location will be made publicly available on the Inspiring Scotland website shortly.

The Scottish National Investment Bank will be formally established this year, at which point it will be able to make investments. The Bank will be operationally independent and will determine its own investments. The team establishing the Scottish National Investment Bank have made good progress developing a pipeline of potential investment opportunities for the Bank.

There are currently 37 members of staff in the team leading on establishment of the Scottish National Investment Bank. Recruitment for the Bank is ongoing. It is anticipated that there will be approximately 60 members of staff in the Scottish National Investment Bank by the end of its first year of operation. The Bank will assess its future recruitment needs on an ongoing basis.