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Since the Scottish National Investment Bank opened for business in November 2020 it has invested £55.5 million in line with its strategic missions. Details of the each of the Bank’s investments are published on the Bank’s ‘Our Portfolio’ page: https://www.thebank.scot/our-portfolio/ .

The findings of the Dasgupta Review will inform the development of our National Strategy for Economic Transformation, to be published later this year, and our new biodiversity strategy, to be published in 2022.

The Scottish Government’s expectations of Scottish Enterprise are set out in a framework document which expands on the agency’s responsibilities and statutory functions under the Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990.

Scottish Enterprise has service level agreements in place with partners which require it to respond to customer enquiries within 5 working days, with more than 90% of enquiries in a normal year receiving a response within 2 working days.

Although no specific standards are in place in relation to the provision of advisory and grant support services, Scottish Enterprise monitors this and seeks regular feedback from businesses accessing the services.

Throughout the pandemic the Scottish Government has, where possible, stepped in to help businesses and premises based travel-agents have benefited from a range of support packages including:

• Small Business Support Grant or Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Support Grant (March 2020)
• Strategic Framework Business Fund (November 2020 – March 2021)
• SFBF retail top up (January 2021)
• Strategic Framework Business Fund Transition Payment and Business Restart Grant (April 2021)
• Non-Domestic Rates Relief for the 2020-21 and 21-22 Financial Years.

This is in addition to the Scottish Government’s £5.3 million Travels Agents Support Fund (announced December 2020 as part of a £185 million package of business support) and the Contingency Plus Fund which offered additional funding to Travel Agents, Breweries and Indoor Football Centres in recognition of the specific challenges that businesses operating in these sectors experienced as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and regulations. The Contingency Plus Fund closed on 31 March 2021 and as at 25 June 2021, £3.6 million had been paid to 223 Travel Agent businesses who met the eligibility criteria.

The Scottish Government is dismayed by the reported rise in the theft of dogs and would encourage dog owners to report any concerns to Police Scotland, be extremely vigilant, ensure dogs are microchipped, and also report the loss/theft to the microchip database operators to ensure that if anyone attempts to re-register the microchip number, the rightful owner will be informed.

The primary responsibility for the prevention and investigation of theft lies with Police Scotland and the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government assists Police Scotland by supporting in any legislative requirements they identify as necessary in their efforts to prevent and detect theft. The Microchipping of Dogs (Scotland) Regulations 2016 came into force on 29 January 2016, making it a statutory requirement for all dogs over the age of 8 weeks to be identifiable with an implanted microchip which is registered on a database from which Police and local authority officers can request information on owners.

The need for a review of the merits of a specific offence of pet theft is written into the recently enacted Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020, to be completed no later than 1 st April 2025. It is the Scottish Government’s intention to review the issue of pet theft in due course as part of the wider review of animal health, welfare and wildlife legislation required by the Act.

Deployment of 5G in Scotland is being commercially led by the four main mobile network operators.

To support that rollout and accelerate adoption and use of 5G, we published a strategy in 2019 (available at 5G: strategy for Scotland - gov.scot ).

This states our commitment to embracing the possibilities of 5G and establishes what steps are needed to ensure Scotland seizes this social and economic opportunity.

As a core part of implementation of this strategy, in 2019 we established the Scotland 5G Centre to be a visible national platform supporting the development, deployment and commercialisation of 5G in Scotland.

Statistics providing a breakdown of those appointed to regulated public body Boards as requested can be found within the Ethical Standards Commissioner Report on Public Appointments 2019 – 20. [ ESC Annual Report on Public Appointments 2019-20.pdf]

Currently 51.7% of all regulated public appointments are held by women. Of these 39% of Chair roles are held by women, an increase from 29.4% in 2019.

The daily fee for a Board Chair attracts a higher rate of remuneration in recognition of the additional responsibilities placed upon them. The Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018 sets a ‘gender representation objective’ for listed public authorities that 50% of its non-executive members are women. The Scottish Government is committed to improving gender equality on public boards and the 2018 Act also requires public boards take steps to encourage women to apply for board vacancies including Board Chair roles. The Scottish Government are also taking steps towards closing the gender pay gap through the Gender Pay Gap Action Plan.

In the UK warranties for new-build residential homes typically consist of a two-year ‘developer warranty’, followed by a further eight years of structural cover. A warranty on a new build property is a type of insurance policy, meaning that any changes to the existing time periods for which such a warranty would apply falls within the remit of the UK Government as a reserved matter in line with Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998.

The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to explore how the proposed New Homes Ombudsman scheme, within the UK Building Safety Bill, could operate in Scotland. The aims of the scheme are to provide better protection to consumers purchasing new build homes and to make access to remediation simpler and easier. The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work with the UK Government as the Bill moves through its amendments process, to try to achieve a UK-wide scheme that works for the people of Scotland and respects the devolution settlement.