Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-16377

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has appointed a private equity manager for its equity stake in Burntisland Fabrications.

As I disclosed to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government has extended the loan facility made available to BiFab, to enable completion of contracts associated with the Beatrice offshore wind farm. Debt under the loan will be converted to a minority equity stake in the company. The extent of the shareholding will be determined by the extent to which the loan facility is drawn down in completing the BOWL contracts. The shareholding will not exceed 38%. The details of the loan facility, including repayment and conversion rates, are commercially confidential. The Scottish Government does not have representation on the BiFab board. The Scottish Government is actively managing its shareholding through a close working relationship with the company.

The Scottish Government did take independent advice on the transaction, including in relation to State Aid. The loan facility has been provided on a commercial basis.

Question reference: S5W-16369

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its shareholding is in Burntisland Fabrications, also expressed as a percentage.

As I disclosed to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government has expanded the loan facility made available to BiFab to enable completion of the BOWL contract and convert that loan to a minority equity stake in the new company.

The extent of that shareholding will be determined by the extent to which the loan facility is utilised in completing the BOWL contract. As previously stated, the shareholding will not exceed 38%.

In addition we will make available a commercial loan to support DF Barnes during this transition.

The Scottish Government sought independent legal and financial advice throughout this process, the details of which are commercially confidential.

Question reference: S5W-16376

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the conversion of its loan to Burntisland Fabrications into an equity stake, whether it has secured any preferential (a) entitlement to dividends, (b) rights in the event that the company winds up and (c) limited voting rights.

As I disclosed to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government has extended the loan facility made available to BiFab, to enable completion of contracts associated with the Beatrice offshore wind farm. Debt under the loan will be converted to a minority equity stake in the company. The extent of the shareholding will be determined by the extent to which the loan facility is drawn down in completing the BOWL contracts. The shareholding will not exceed 38%. The details of the loan facility, including repayment and conversion rates, are commercially confidential. The Scottish Government does not have representation on the BiFab board. The Scottish Government is actively managing its shareholding through a close working relationship with the company.

The Scottish Government did take independent advice on the transaction, including in relation to State Aid. The loan facility has been provided on a commercial basis.

Question reference: S5W-16370

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what will happen to its equity stake in Burntisland Fabrications as the converted loan is repaid.

As I disclosed to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government has extended the loan facility made available to BiFab, to enable completion of contracts associated with the Beatrice offshore wind farm. Debt under the loan will be converted to a minority equity stake in the company. The extent of the shareholding will be determined by the extent to which the loan facility is drawn down in completing the BOWL contracts. The shareholding will not exceed 38%. The details of the loan facility, including repayment and conversion rates, are commercially confidential. The Scottish Government does not have representation on the BiFab board. The Scottish Government is actively managing its shareholding through a close working relationship with the company.

The Scottish Government did take independent advice on the transaction, including in relation to State Aid. The loan facility has been provided on a commercial basis.

Question reference: S5W-16422

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC).

Question reference: S5W-16421

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants there are in the Police Division of its Justice Directorate.

Question reference: S5W-16423

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 17 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many people are employed by the Scottish Police Authority.

Question reference: S5O-02117

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium suggesting that town centre vacancy rates have reached a seven-year high.

Question reference: S5W-16398

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 16 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Scottish Enterprise should treat women’s enterprise as a growth sector in the Scottish economy.

Question reference: S5W-16295

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 30 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 15 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it (a) had before and (b) has had since the announcement of the merger proposal with (i) Asda and (ii) Sainsbury’s.

The Scottish Government was made aware of proposals to merge Asda and Sainsbury’s on 30 April 2018 in correspondence from both retailers. My officials have been in regular contact with representatives from both organisations since and I also held a call with representatives of Asda on 1 May it was made clear that the proposed merger will result in no store closures in Scotland.

We were also informed that Asda intends to keep its two distribution centres at Falkirk and Grangemouth open, and there are no indications of job losses. We will continue to engage with both supermarkets to ensure that those promises are followed through, that Scottish consumers benefit and that Scottish suppliers benefit and do not lose out.

Chamber and committees