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-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-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.

Question reference: S6W-05317

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 it necessitated that it take ownership of the Dalzell steelworks for a short period in 2016, and what prevented Tata Steel selling the asset directly to Liberty House.

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-05665

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact may be on the home insurance policies of households that are unable to install interlinked fire alarms before the February deadline.

Throughout the legislative process, we have engaged proactively with the Association of British Insurers, which has ensured that its members are aware of the changes. It has stated that, although insurers might ask customers questions about whether their property is fitted with working fire alarms, they are not likely to ask questions about specific standards. Anyone who is unclear on their policy terms and conditions in relation to the new law should speak to their insurer.

Question reference: S6W-05695

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria and factors were taken into consideration when appointing the Chief Executive Officer of Scottish Rail Holdings.

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-05225

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when Scottish Ministers were first made aware that there had been a potential breach of state aid rules in relation to its contract with Tata Steel UK Ltd.

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-05699

Asked by: Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 January 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria and factors were taken into consideration during the recruitment process for the new Chief Operating Officer of ScotRail.