Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-05309

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence it conducted prior to facilitating the purchase of the Dalzell steelworks by Liberty House from Tata Steel, and whether it (a) employed any consultants and (b) commissioned any external advice in relation to this matter.

Question reference: S6W-05328

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what review it has conducted of other contracts in relation to (a) state aid rules and (b) assuming liabilities such as environmental remediation, in light of the results of its review of the facilitation of the sale of the Dalzell steelworks.

We have considered the compliance and disclosure risks associated with significant and complex transactions. This includes the high-profile interventions that the Scottish Government has supported in recent years as outlined in 2020-21 Annual Accounts.

These transactions have been reviewed and, on the basis of information available it remains the case that there was no state aid present in any of the transactions. We have also obtained assurances in respect of the appropriate recognition and disclosure of contingent liabilities.

Question reference: S6W-05315

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the total environmental remediation cost of the Dalzell steelworks it would be liable to pay under the agreement it facilitated in 2016 in the event that (a) the site is repurposed as a result of a decision by Liberty Steel and (b) the parent company ceases to exist, and what proportion other parties would be liable for in each circumstance.

Question reference: S6W-05306

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date and at what time it contacted Tata Steel after identifying that it may have broken state aid rules while facilitating the sale of the Dalzell steelworks, and whether it will publish any (a) notification and (b) response.

Scottish Government officials contacted TATA Steel UK on 9 December 2021 to inform the company of its findings concerning the potential presence of State Aid with respect to 2016 transaction. Channels of communication between the Scottish Government and Tata Steel UK to facilitate dialogue remain open but it would not be appropriate to publish the detailed content of these commercially sensitive exchanges.

Question reference: S6W-05308

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) correspondence and (b) meetings it has had with (i) Tata Steel and (ii) Liberty House since identifying that it may have broken state aid rules while facilitating the sale of the Dalzell steelworks, and whether it will publish any (A) minutes and (B) documents regarding this since 1 January 2021.

Since Ministers were informed of the potential presence of State Aid with respect to its 2016 contract with Tata Steel UK Scottish Government officials have engaged with (a) Tata Steel UK on the following occasions, 9-12-21; 10-12-21; 13-12-21; 14-12-21; 15-12-21; 24-12-21 and 12-1-22 and (b) Liberty Steel-GFG Alliance on the following occasions 9-9-21; 8-11-21; 15-12-21; and 24-1-22.

Channels of communication between the Scottish Government and relevant businesses remain open but it would not be appropriate to publish the detailed content of these commercially sensitive exchanges.

Question reference: S6W-05310

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for how long precisely it owned the Dalzell steelworks in 2016.

Question reference: S6W-05321

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider its decision to redact clause 12.4 on the total aggregate liability in the release of the business purchase agreement in relation to the Dalzell steelworks, as set out in the response to freedom of information request FOI/202100212787, a review of FOI/202100203997.

The original FOI request and the subsequent review were handled by the Scottish Government in compliance with its statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). Where any requester is dissatisfied with the outcome of a review, there is a clear statutory route by which they may appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner, within six months. Any new request received by the Scottish Government would be considered afresh, in compliance with our obligations under FOISA.

Question reference: S6W-05319

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the previous owners, Tata Steel, have liabilities in relation to the environmental remediation costs for the site of the Dalzell steelworks, and whether this is typical for the owners of similar former sites.

The Scottish Government does not assert that Tata Steel has liabilities relating to the environmental remediation costs for the site of the Dalzell steelworks. In the majority of cases potential contaminated land is dealt with routinely through the development planning system or voluntary remediation with the responsibility and costs for carrying out site investigation and any required remediation resting with the site owner / developer.

Question reference: S6W-05312

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether Tata Steel provided it with an estimate of the cost of the total potential environmental remediation cost of the Dalzell steelworks upon purchasing the site in 2016.

Question reference: S6W-05325

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether (a) it and (b) Tata Steel has any claim to the land upon which the Dalzell steelworks are situated in the event that Liberty House decides to close the site for reasons other than it ceasing to exist.