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Since the start of the pandemic, our support for business and the economy totals more than £3 billion. Statistics and management information on the Covid-19 business support funding streams, including how much has been paid out to businesses, are published on the Scottish Government website at Coronavirus (COVID-19): business support funding statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . This includes data on the Strategic Framework Business Fund which is updated and published monthly.

The Digital Growth Fund has paid out a total of £6,406,093.50 and 129 businesses have directly received funding.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35144 on 25 February 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As at 31 January 2021, the Scottish Growth Scheme, which of course is demand led, has: (a) provided some £333.5 million of debt and equity investment to businesses; (b) 560 businesses have directly benefitted from this investment; and (c) The Scottish Government has provided £19.4 million which has in turn levered substantial private sector funding so that 560 businesses received a total investment of £333.5 million.

In the following table a breakdown of the administrative costs and legal costs incurred since the Scottish Government’s initial intervention with BiFab in 2017-18 is provided.

In the following table a breakdown of the administrative costs and legal costs incurred in respect of the Scottish Government’s acquisition of Ferguson Marine in 2019 is provided.

The Council of Economic Advisers has held two meetings and three conference calls since March 2020 (as of 2 March 2021).

Unlike council meetings, conference calls are typically only attended by council members and officials. They are used to provide members with relevant updates, to follow up and discuss actions from Council meetings, and to agree forward meeting plans.

The following table provides the dates and Ministerial attendance at council meetings in 2020 alongside the conference calls by members and officials also:

Zero Waste Scotland recently commissioned research into textiles reprocessing in Scotland which will be published on its website in due course. The report will provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of the extent of current waste textile processing activities in Scotland.

In 2015 Scottish Enterprise conducted “Research into the Viability and Commercial Opportunities of Growing and Using Nettle Fibres in Scotland” which was published on the Textiles Scotland website www.textilescotland.com . The report did not generate significant interest and there were no Scottish textiles companies interested in either investing in processing or buying nettle fibres at the time.

The concept of using nettles and similar home grown environmentally sustainable fibres continues to be an area of interest. However, in order to further explore the possibility of nettle fibre production in Scotland there is a need for industry partners to come forward to facilitate trials.

Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) leads on a number of initiatives and events encouraging the sustainable purchasing of clothes by consumers. It is not possible to provide exact resourcing and funding figures as this area of work is often part of wider waste prevention initiatives. Examples include:

• Workshops about reuse or general waste prevention that includes textiles (10 so far in 2020-21 and 12 in 2019-20).
• Campaigns such as Pass it on Week and European Week for Waste Reduction which encourage organisations to hold textiles related initiatives and events – including swap shops, donation drives, repair sessions etc.
• Social media engagement, articles and general tips are available on the Zero Waste Scotland ‘How to waste less’ website and associated social media platforms.

ZWS also manage the Revolve Certification which is a quality standard for second-hand stores in Scotland and is awarded to stores that meet high standards in safety, cleanliness and service. The national certification scheme for second-hand stores includes a number of charity clothes stores as well as stores which offer recycling and upcycling services for items including textiles.