Scottish Government's involvement in smelting facilities owned by Aluance British Aluminium Ltd: FOI release

Information requested

I write concerning the involvement of the Scottish Government in the Lochaber Smelter owned by Aluance British Aluminium Ltd which is controlled by Sanjeer Gupta

The company has three charges against it in the name of Scottish Ministers, effectively the Scottish Government, for money loaned to the company. Companies House records also show that the last set of accounts lodged were for the year ending 31st March 2021. There is also a record of the Auditor having resigned in August 2022. There is no record of a new auditor being appointed.

Surely the Scottish Government Ministers are deeply concerned, that in the absence of accounts for the last four financial years they do not know the state of the company's finances and how the liability of the Scottish Government is affected. That the Auditor resigned due to the lack of sufficient information and evidence must cause alarm bells to ring!

All of this is concerning and it is important that the Scottish tax-payers are aware of the precarious state of Aluance British Aluminium and the likely danger that money may be lost by the Government

I request that you provide the following information concerning the Aluance British Aluminium company

1. What is rhe total liability outstanding in the name of Scottish Ministers as a consequence of the three charges on the company?

2 What is rhe latest finacial information you hold concerning the company? e.g. draft accounts later than 2022

3 When was the last exchange of correspondence with the company?

4 When was the last meeting between Scottish Ministers and representatives of the company, and who were the individuals concerned?

Response

1. The total amount guaranteed under the Lochaber Guarantee was £586 million when the guarantee was given in 2016. The amounts guaranteed decline each year and vary from £14 to £32 million per annum over the lifetime of the guarantee until 2041. In return for providing the guarantee the Scottish Government receives a guarantee fee.

2. We receive financial updates from the Lochaber businesses on a regular basis.

3. We are in frequent communication with the GFG Alliance and our last correspondence with them was 28 October 2025.

4. The last meeting between Scottish Ministers and representatives of the company was a meeting between Ivan McKee, Minister for Public Finance, and Jeffrey Kabel, Chief Transformation Officer, GFG Alliance, on 9 September 2025.

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