Strategic commercial assets

Shareholder interventions

SCAD currently manages Scottish Ministers’ shareholder responsibilities for two public bodies, Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Ltd and Glasgow Prestwick Airport Ltd. The Portfolio Accountable Officer is responsible for putting in place a framework document. 

The framework document provides a governance structure for the business to work effectively with government, including offering clarity where approvals from ministers as shareholders are required. Whilst framework documents do not confer any legal duties or powers, they articulate the various instances where businesses are expected to liaise and/or gain approval from their sponsor division.

The following are the three types of shareholder interventions available to Scottish Ministers.

Routine shareholder approvals

These can include the authorisation of strategic company matters like approving corporate and annual business plans. These are commonplace approvals and arise frequently in the normal course of business. Details of these approvals are not currently held centrally or made public.

Read more: report of shareholder approvals.

Written authority

These are issued by Ministers under the Section 15 - Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (PFA). A written authority is a document that grants permission to an Accountable Officer to take an action that might otherwise be inconsistent with their responsibilities.

After a written authority from Scottish Ministers is granted, the Accountable Officer must provide copies of the request and written authority to the Auditor General for Scotland and the Clerk to the Public Audit Committee. These are infrequent and are always made availabe at list of written authorities exercised by Scottish Government.

Shareholder directions

Scottish Ministers as primary shareholder of a business may exercise common law powers of provisions of the Companies Act 2006 to direct company directors by special resolution to take or refrain from taking specified actions.

Similar to the process of notifying Parliament when a written authority is exercised under the provisions of the PFA, Parliament will be notified when Ministers exercise their rights as shareholders to direct company decision making.