THE SNP cabinet secretary in charge of energy has three family members working in the energy sector but will continue to make wide-ranging decisions about it.
Neil Gray has two relatives working in the North Sea oil and gas industry and a third working for an electricity supply giant, it has emerged.
The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy declares the connections in the newly updated register of ministers’ interests.
However the Government says he will only recuse himself from decisions which impact “directly” on the individual companies involved.
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More detailed than the list of interests declared by MSPs at Holyrood, the register includes family members who might be seen as relevant to a minister’s responsibilities.
A similar register had been published at Westminster for more than a decade but the Scottish Government kept its version a secret.
It only decided to publish it regularly after the Herald used freedom of information law to obtain past versions and highlighted the lack of transparency.
Humza Yousaf’s entry notes that his wife, Nadia El-Nakia is a therapist and owns a rental property in Dundee, where she is an SNP councillor for the West End ward.
It states: “The First Minister’s wife is a councillor. The First Minister has taken steps to recuse himself from any decisions relating to Ward 3 [West End] in Dundee City Council.
Fiona Hyslop, who Mr Yousaf made his transport minister after he became FM in March, has recused herself from six transport issues because of possible conflicts of interest.
She will not take decisions on five potential road projects because of campaigning for them, and will also avoid decisions on possible airspace expansion at Edinburgh Airport.
In previous years, culture secretary Angus Robertson has recused himself from numerous arts funding decisions which affect his Edinburgh Central constituency.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth, a registered teacher, has arranged for papers about General Teaching Council for Scotland registration to be sent to another minister.
However Mr Gray’s entry in the register makes no commitment to recuse himself.
Under “Interests of spouse, partner or close family member”, he declares an “extended family member” is a computer-assisted designer for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, the distribution arm of the energy giant SSE.
Mr Gray says another extended family member works as a compensation and benefits supervisor for Stena Drilling, which supplies offshore drilling rigs and ships.
A third extended family member is an emergency response technician with Petrofac at the Repsol-Sinopec Flotta Oil Terminal in Orkney.
It is for ministers to decide what constitutes "extended family".
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers keep the relationship between their private interests and official responsibilities under regular review, in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code, and consider each case on its own merits.
“Should any decisions be required which directly impact upon the organisations which extended family members work for, the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will take steps to avoid any conflict of interest, or a perception of one.”
READ MORE: Humza Yousaf to pilot four-day working week in key Holyrood speech
The register also reveals nuggets of information about the lives of other ministers:
Children’s Minister Natalie Don sends her children to a private nursery.
Higher Education minister Graeme Dey has a close family member who “is an actress who on occasion works for the Scottish Government funded National Theatre of Scotland”.
Business minister Richard Lochhead is “Honorary President of Tomintoul and Glenlivet Bowling Club”.
And Equalities minister Emma Roddick is a member of two groups, Republic and Our Republic, that want to abolish the monarchy, as well as a member of the UK Metric Association, which wants an end to imperial measures such as pounds and ounces and miles per hour.
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