Chamber and committees

I want to continue the conversation that I had with the previous panel about accounts and profitability. You said in your opening statement that you will look at all options. If you are looking at the best interests of the public purse, will you also look at public ownership?

I was thinking more about the interest than dividends.

Good morning, panel. I have a couple of questions about your accounts. I had a quick look at the TS Prestwick Holdco Ltd accounts. You rightly pointed out that you have made a profit of about £2 million over the past two years. However, the accounts for the subsidiaries say that Glasgow Prestwick Airport Ltd, which carries out airport operations, made a loss of £1.5 million, and that Prestwick Airport Ltd, which is a property management company, made a profit of £2.4 million. I realise that those figures are before your revaluation reserve and the financial costs, but will you say a wee bit more about the importance of Prestwick Airport Ltd?

It sounds as though an awful lot of investment is required over the next 30 years.

I am asking whether you have a view on that.

Absolutely.

I accept 100 per cent that Prestwick is a fantastic asset and that it is strategically important. In my eyes, the danger of moving it back into private ownership is asset stripping, because all of the value of the company is in a 900-acre site with 70 leases. There is no value in the airport operation itself. In my mind, if it is returned to private ownership, the focus will be not on the airport but on the asset of 900 acres in Ayrshire. CalMac, which is owned by the Scottish Government, is operating ferries; ScotRail is owned by the Scottish Government; and Lothian Buses in Edinburgh is owned by the councils, which are funded by the Scottish Government. I am trying to understand why the thinking is that we should move the airport into private ownership when there is that danger of asset stripping. It is a strategic asset that is to the good of the country in the long term.

I accept what you say about it being a package and the property arm of the holding company supporting the airport operations. You talked about your master plan for the more than 800 acres that you guys have. Will you say a wee bit more about that and its importance to Prestwick’s viability?

I will ask the same question as I asked the previous panel. My concern is that, if you look at the net asset value of the holding company, it has a net liability of £14 million. However, Prestwick Airport Ltd cross-subsidises the airport operation, which is loss making. Prestwick Airport Ltd has a value of £30 million. How will you attract a buyer when there is no value in the airport and it operates at a loss?

Good morning. You might be pleased to know that I will not ask you about data. I want to ask about some of the points that were made in the report “Just Transition for Workers and Communities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire: Rapid Evidence Review”. Section 4.6 is titled “Lack of local control”. It says:

“during the key early years of North Sea development ‘the goal of local capability-building was a secondary consideration’.”

Later in that section, it says:

“In its early phase ... oil development was dominated by externally owned companies.”

What lessons should we learn from the early days of the oil industry to ensure that we achieve a just transition? Why is local control important?