Chamber and committees

I refer the member to my answer to question S5O-04711, provided in the Chamber on 4 November 2020. The answer can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=12916 .

The purpose was to raise our concerns about the financial state of the company (about which we needed further information) and the risk to securing the NNG contract because of that. We made it clear that the majority shareholder had responsibilities and we had concerns that there was a risk to our ability to provide more funding or assurance in a state aid compliant way because of the financial situation, and that together we had had to look at all options to see how NNG could be delivered.

The published Coronavirus (COVID-19): local protection levels guidance indicates that for level 3, visitor attractions, such as museums , can remain open with protective measures. This is the same status as that for public buildings for level 3.

The protective measures include ensuring physical distancing and hygiene measures are in place. Face coverings indoors are compulsory for all visitors and staff. All museums should follow the measures set out in the museums, galleries and heritage attractions guidance to ensure the safety of staff and the visiting public.

In accordance with the Scottish Ministerial code paragraph 2.38, Ministers may acknowledge publicly that they have received legal advice on a particular topic, but must not divulge either who provided the advice or its contents.

The Scottish Government does not approach the EU directly for State aid advice. The Government has a State aid team supported by legal advice, which ensures all public interventions are compliant within State aid rules.

Furthermore, Section 57(2) of the Scotland Act 1998 provides that Scottish Ministers have no power to act in a manner which is incompatible with EU law. It is therefore not open to Ministers to act in such a way.

In order to save BiFab from closure in 2017, and to support delivery of SSE’s Beatrice Offshore Wind project, the Scottish Government invested £37.4 million through a combination of equity and loan facilities and converted this to a 32.4% equity stake in BiFab. A loan facility of £15 million has also been provided to support working capital.

I am concerned that the cost of locating, retrieving and providing the information would exceed the upper cost limits associated with such requests. This would also consume valuable Scottish Government time and resource, at a time when we rightly focused on working with partners to find a solution. Therefore it would be helpful if you could be more specific by contacting my office on [email protected]

I refer the member to SPICe (Bib Number - 61854).

Scottish Water currently estimates its capital investment expenditure to be some £590m in 2020-21. This will be kept under review as Scottish Water develops its understanding of the impact of new ways of safe working following COVID-19, and based on any further restrictions that may occur.

Business Stream, alongside three other retailers, is a provider of last resort (POLR) in the Scottish retail market. In the event that a retailer were to cease trading, Business Stream would, as any other POLR licensed provider, be liable towards Scottish Water for the wholesale charges and exposed to any potential customer bad debt only from the date of the transfer of customers.