Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-16194

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to address any current exposure, that is backed by public funds, to any financial guarantees that it has given to GFG Alliance.

Regular engagement takes place between the Scottish Government and GFG Alliance at both official and ministerial level. Officials hold quarterly meetings to monitor performance in respect of the Scottish Government guarantee and maintain frequent engagement at local and group level on business operations. Officials are further supported in this activity by external commercial experts. The Scottish Government has a suite of securities in relation to the assets at Lochaber that are valued at more than the outstanding amount guaranteed.

Question reference: S6W-16197

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of jobs that have been created at the Lochaber Aluminium Smelter as a result of the financial support that it has provided to GFG Alliance.

Question reference: S6W-16198

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of jobs that have been created at Liberty Steel Dalzell as a result of the financial support that it has provided to GFG Alliance.

Question reference: S6W-16257

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the average number of private patients per dentist has been in NHS (a) Highland, (b) Orkney, (c) Shetland and (d) Western Isles, in each of the last 10 years.

Question reference: S6W-16224

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Police Scotland has recorded substandard road conditions as a contributory factor in road traffic accidents in the Highlands and Islands in each of the last 10 years, also broken down by command area.

The following table shows the number of contributory factors in injury road accidents where road surface was poor or defective in Highlands and Islands police division, broken down by council area. In addition to the Highlands and Islands, the North command area also covers Grampian and Tayside. These areas have therefore not been included.

Contributory factors in injury road accidents where road surface was poor or defective in Highlands and Islands police division by council area

	Eilean Siar	Highland	Orkney Islands	Shetland Islands	Total
2012	1	14	0	2	17
2013	2	13	1	1	17
2014	0	11	0	0	11
2015	1	13	1	0	15
2016	0	3	0	0	3
2017	0	7	0	1	8
2018	0	5	0	0	5
2019	0	2	0	0	2
2020	0	2	0	0	2
2021	0	4	0	1	5

Question reference: S6W-16192

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to secure the repayment of loans made to Liberty Steel Dalzell.

Question reference: S6W-16196

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many times its relevant department has received correspondence from Audit Scotland regarding the Lochaber Aluminium Smelter in each year since 2016, including 2023 to date.

The Scottish Government has engagement with Audit Scotland in relation to the Lochaber Guarantee and the year end accounts. The outcome of the most recent Consolidated accounts for the 2021-2022 financial year has been published in full on the Scottish Government’s website and the Auditor General has publicly commented on the findings in relation to Lochaber in December 2022 which can be accessed at this link .

The Auditor General has stated at page 12 of the 2021-2022 Audit that:

“I have concluded for 2021-22, the Scottish Government’s approach to setting the level of provision against the potential exposure through the guarantee is reasonable”.

Question reference: S6W-16193

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline what the current exposure is, that is backed by public funds, to any financial guarantees that it has given to GFG Alliance.

Question reference: S6W-16191

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Enterprise has made an estimate of when it anticipates being repaid the reported £7 million in outstanding loan payments to Liberty Steel Dalzell.

Question reference: S6W-16200

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on, or estimates it has made of, the number of people who have been employed at Liberty Steel Dalzell in each year since 2016, including 2023.