Question reference: S6W-23242
- Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 27 November 2023 Registered interest
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Current status: Answered by Neil Gray on 7 December 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assurances it has (a) requested and (b) received from Petroineos regarding the retention of all of the highly-skilled jobs based at the Grangemouth complex.
Answer
The First Minister and I met Senior Management at the Petroineos refinery on 23 November 2023, during which we both expressed the criticality of continuing refining for as long as possible as a means to safeguarding both energy resilience and employment at the site. In return the business agreed on the importance of working collaboratively with the Scottish Government and trade unions throughout the transition period. I also wrote to both of Petroineos’ Joint Venture partners on 23 November 2023 to seek assurances that the business will continue to sustain the site’s role as a source of domestic road and air fuels. I will meet Petroineos again in the coming days to seek further assurances around these points.
In addition to engaging with senior management at the site, I met with representatives from STUC and Unite the Union on 23 November 2023 to receive an update on the reaction of the workforce to the announcement. The Scottish Government is committed to continued dialogue with both the trade unions and the workforce at the refinery throughout this period of transition to ensure that highly-skilled jobs are retained for the duration of the asset’s lifecycle.