The UK Government cannot guarantee a new job for every worker who could be laid off when the Grangemouth refinery closes next year, the Scottish Secretary has said.
Plans for the closure of the site in the second quarter of next year, with the loss of up to 400 jobs, were announced by owners Petroineos last month.
On Thursday, the UK and Scottish Government announced a £500,000 project that will see “bespoke support” offered by Forth Valley College to help workers build on current skills and develop new ones to help them find new work in the green energy sector.
Speaking to journalists at the college, Ian Murray said both Governments were doing what they could to secure work for those under threat but could not provide an assurance everyone would be employed ahead of the refinery closure.
“Government can’t give that guarantee,” he told the PA news agency.
“What we are trying to do is put the conditions in place to make sure all the opportunities are open.”
He added: “That’s what Government can do, and we need to make sure we minimise the number of jobs that are, indeed, lost.”
Both Governments will “put everything, all the building blocks” in place to minimise the numbers that will be out of work come the closure of the refinery – which will be turned into an import terminal and retain about 100 jobs.
The UK Government has come under pressure from some, including local Labour MP Brian Leishman, to take ownership of the site, which representatives have said was making losses of up to 500,000 US dollars (£385,000) per day at one point last month.
But Mr Murray rejected the idea, saying: “It is off the table because it is not possible for the Government to run a refinery as massively loss-making as it is.
“What we need to do is concentrate all our efforts, all our resources and the ability of both Governments to work together with the workforce and indeed the other stakeholders and agencies to provide a bright future for the Grangemouth site.
“But there is no question that the site can’t be nationalised.”
Scotland’s acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin also spoke to journalists at the college on Thursday.
Asked about a guarantee for workers, Ms Martin said: “It’s decisions that are made at a commercial level for private firms as to who they employ.
“But what I would say to anyone that’s wanting to invest in Grangemouth is that the workers at the Grangemouth refinery are some of the most highly-skilled workers in the whole of Scotland. I am pretty confident that all of them have a CV that would be very attractive to anyone wanting to invest.”
With both the UK and Scottish Governments set to announce their budgets in the next two months, neither Mr Murray nor Ms Martin would be drawn on extra funding for the workers at the refinery.
Ms Martin said the Scottish Government will have to wait until the UK budget is set on October 30 to understand funding levels available north of the border.
Reacting to the announcement of the Forth Valley College project, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who was visiting Scotland on Thursday, said: “UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “We continue to stand with Grangemouth workers and we are putting money on the table to secure workers good onward employment.
“By working in partnership with the Scottish Government, we’ve unlocked an unprecedented joint investment plan to support workers and secure Grangemouth’s future, and I will continue to spare no effort to drive this work forward.”
Unite the Union described Thursday’s announcement by the Scottish and UK Governments on college funding as “smoke and mirrors” and said that “Grangemouth workers will not be fooled by it”.
“The Government should be focused on preserving the current jobs rather than making a smoke and mirrors announcement around training for jobs that don’t exist,” general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“If the UK and Scottish Governments cannot get their act together to save 400 jobs at Grangemouth, workers in Scotland will have no faith that Government can secure a just transition for thousands of other Scottish workers.
“Unite will not stand by and allow a jobless transition and the creation of yet another working class wasteland. Not to save Grangemouth is a dereliction of duty.”
She said the UK Government should “stop dancing around its handbag” and commit to a public stake to secure the future of Grangemouth.
