Chamber and committees

Will the member give way

I am sure that the member will come on to this subject, but does she, or does she not, agree with the UK Government’s decision on payments for pensioners in the winter?

The Scottish Government welcomes the Economy and Fair Work Committee’s recent inquiries into a just transition for Grangemouth and for the north-east and Moray. I extend my sincere thanks to members and staff of the committee, as well as to all those who provided evidence to both inquiries.

As we are about to embark on a discussion that will, in part, concern Grangemouth, it would be remiss not to start by addressing the on-going situation there, following the recent announcement that the Grangemouth refinery intends to cease operations in quarter 2 of 2025, as Claire Baker referred to. That is clearly concerning for the workforce and the wider community, and I echo the First Minister and the acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy in paying tribute to the refinery workforce, which has been critical in maintaining Scotland’s fuel security over many decades.

We are working tirelessly, alongside the UK Government, to do all that we can to support those who have been impacted by the recent announcement. That is why we announced a tailored support package, which included £20 million in additional joint funding from the Scottish and UK Governments—supplementing the Falkirk and Grangemouth growth deal—as well as immediate tailored career support that will help affected workers, and the £1.5 million joint funded project willow study, which will take forward credible options for low-carbon industry at the refinery site.

The name recognises the fact that Grangemouth, as a community, was always included in the deal. As I understand it, that has been the purpose of the funding throughout. I say that because Grangemouth is a critical area for Scotland’s economy, and it is my firm belief that that will continue long into the future.

It is worth underlining that there is a wider industrial cluster, as Stephen Kerr knows, beyond the refinery, which we must not lose sight of. There is a group of businesses that employ some 3,000 people.

The measures that I have set out and the measures that I am announcing now indicate the importance and urgency that both Governments attach to intervention in this area. The Scottish Government has been able to set out its part in doing that.

I say all that because it is part of Scotland’s world-leading approach to just transition. We must make sure that that is embedded in our climate change legislation and in our independent body that we have established to advise on and scrutinise our work. We are now setting out to co-develop just transition plans for our key sectors, sites and regions.

I thank the member for giving way.

Lorna Slater asks what has been done to prepare Grangemouth for a new and greener future. Will she acknowledge that, through project willow and other efforts before that, the Scottish Government and others have sought to identify just such a future?

Stephen Kerr will be aware that the company concerned has—indeed, as he has just set out—blamed its decision on the global situation and not on Scotland stopping selling vans that are powered by petrol. Just for the sake of accuracy, Mr Kerr might wish to reflect on what the company has actually said.

This has been a constructive debate for the most part. I can think of only a couple of exceptions, but I will not be drawn further on that. I welcome the evident and shared commitment across the chamber to ensure a genuinely just transition for the people and communities at the two significant locations in Scotland’s energy system in which the committee took such a helpful interest.

The energy transition is an opportunity for Scotland. Indeed, the transition to net zero is one of the greatest socioeconomic opportunities that we have seen for a generation. However, events such as the recent announcements at the Grangemouth refinery underline the importance of capturing those opportunities for the people of Scotland. A number of speakers in the debate highlighted the real lives and families that are involved in that just transition. The committee reports that we have debated today are important contributions to that urgent national conversation.

At the same time as we support our oil and gas workers on that journey, we look to the future, and we will use all the powers that are at our disposal to make Scotland a great place to invest in green economic opportunities and to make sure that Scotland’s people benefit from that investment.

I will pick up on a few of the issues that members raised in the debate. In response to Murdo Fraser’s question about any potential sale of the refinery, I emphasise that that is a matter for its owners and not for the Scottish Government. To be clear, I cannot attempt to speak for the company on that.

On Claire Baker’s point about whether a just transition fund in the north-east would be vulnerable to changes to financial transactions, I reassure her that there are no financial transactions in the fund’s allocation for 2024-25.

Sarah Boyack spoke helpfully about the two Governments working together. I note that the cabinet secretary and I had what I felt was a very constructive meeting with Ed Miliband, and one of the first meetings—I think that it was the first meeting—between the new First Minister and the new Prime Minister touched substantially on the issue of Grangemouth.

A number of members mentioned the barriers to investment. I point out that the greatest of those is access to the grid. I hope that the two Governments, together, can make progress on that.

As I mentioned at the start of the debate, we published our green industrial strategy earlier this month, setting out how we plan to create the right conditions for private investment in sectors where Scotland has potential to compete in global markets. We are focusing on wind power, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and energy intensive industries, as well as our green professional and financial services.

Murdo Fraser made a point about planning constraints. The Scottish Government acknowledges some of the issues that he mentioned and we are seeking to address them through measures such as our planning hub, which seeks to support the planning system, particularly around hydrogen.

I acknowledge the need to support local authorities more generally on the issues that the member mentions about planning. I acknowledge the constraint that they could represent if we do not get that right in future.

We will use our public funding strategically to unlock growth where we know that we have an edge. That includes investing up to £500 million over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland, acting as a catalyst for further private sector investment and supporting places across Scotland to benefit from our offshore renewables revolution.

On the subject of places, a number of speakers—particularly Liam McArthur and Graham Simpson—rightly highlighted the needs of the town of Grangemouth. The Scottish Government is certainly not overlooking that. To give a very small example, one of the things that we are doing is funding a community engagement officer to make sure that the town’s views are heard loud and clear by the Grangemouth future industry board. On a larger scale, I make the point that the Grangemouth just transition plan is only one of many Government interventions. Perhaps that will reassure Mr Johnson, who made a point about its timing.

Our energy strategy and just transition plan will outline our ambition to more than double Scotland’s renewable electricity capacity. It will show how we can deliver our clean energy pipeline while maximising environmental and economic benefits.

Audrey Nicoll spoke with some authority about the creation of new green jobs in the north-east and the need to increase awareness of those job opportunities. Certainly, as we drive progress in those ambitions, Scotland’s vast pipeline of clean energy projects will play a crucial role in the wider UK energy transition. As I have said, we are committed to working with the UK Government to maximise opportunities for the people of Scotland from Great British energy’s investments, alongside the existing work of the Scottish National Investment Bank. Making sure that Scotland plays that role in the future is important.

I see that you are looking for me to conclude, Presiding Officer. Achieving a just transition to net zero for Scotland will rely on our ability to realise our ambitions for Scotland’s economy. As I have set out, we welcome the recommendations from the Economy and Fair Work Committee on how best to support the regions that are most affected by the transition. We will continue to work closely with our energy industry, the UK Government and partners more widely to further realise our enormous renewables potential and to ensure that the people of Scotland benefit from a transition that is truly just.

As I mentioned, the Scottish Government has long understood the criticality of the wider Grangemouth cluster. That is why we made a commitment to develop a just transition plan that set a clear strategic direction for the future of the whole site and recognised the need for that to change in the future. That is what project willow has been about.

Today, I will update Parliament on our decision to introduce a short delay to the development of the Grangemouth plan. It is important to separate all these things out. I have mentioned some of the direct, immediate interventions that the Scottish and UK Governments are making. With regard to the Grangemouth plan, that will allow us time to consider the recent refinery announcement and to incorporate critical evidence from the project willow study, to ensure alignment between those important pieces of work. That is distinct from, and in addition to, the more immediate work that we have just described. We will launch our consultation on the draft plan shortly, with a view to delivering the final plan in the spring of next year.

The Just Transition Commission has said that Grangemouth represents the first “litmus test” of a successful just transition in Scotland. Although the recent announcement is disappointing, I outline the Scottish Government’s unwavering commitment to delivering it, and I trust that members will look forward to engaging with the draft plan in due course.

With its report, the Economy and Fair Work Committee has carried out an essential role in providing scrutiny of all those many efforts. I look forward to discussing the committee’s recommendations and the Scottish Government’s actions in more detail, and whether further steps might be necessary in the interest of working across Parliament on a topic in which we all have a shared interest.

We are certainly under no illusions about the scale of the challenge. As we know only too well from our industrial history, poorly managed rapid transformations cause long-term damage to our society. We are absolutely determined not to repeat those mistakes of the past.