Question reference: S6W-10100
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 29 July 2022
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Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 19 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-06253 and S6W-05317 by Ivan McKee on 10 February and 27 January 2022 respectively, whether it will provide the information requested regarding what the precise technical purpose was of it owning the Dalzell steelworks for a short period; what specific benefits this provided to (a) Tata Steel UK, (b) Liberty House and (c) the Scottish Government, and what prevented a direct sale of the asset without the Scottish Government owning the steelworks for a short period.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s intervention in March 2016 was designed to ensure that steel communities in Scotland had a future. The benefits of the intervention are manifest in the high-quality steel products that continue to be produced in Lanarkshire, the skilled employment retained and the economic multiplier effects that accrue via ongoing payments to suppliers and the circulation of income through the local economy. Tata Steel, Liberty House and the Scottish Government were all aligned in agreeing a transaction that secured the earliest realisation of the commercial and wider economic benefits of the deal, and the selected structure was the best available means to deliver this.