Exclusive:UK Government urged to 'hurry up' Grangemouth clear up to attract investment

The SNP said the Labour Government should “take responsibility” and remove dangerous substances from the site.

It comes after a UK minister revealed that £200 million of public money for the former oil refinery was being held up because of “remediation of the land”.

The UK Government promised £200m from the National Wealth Fund for Grangemouth last year.

But it recently admitted that none of they money has yet been spent.

SNP Westminster energy spokesperson Graham Leadbitter MP said: “Last week’s budget was yet another kick in the teeth for the people of Grangemouth who have been let down time and time again by this Labour Government.

“This was an opportunity for Labour to come good on their promise of support for the area instead they found a new excuse for their inaction.

“If contamination of the site is stopping investors coming forward, then the UK Labour Government must take responsibility, hurry up and clear the site to make it attractive to new investment.

“The Labour Party promised to keep the refinery open. It’s closed. This is their mess to clear up and nobody is stopping that from happening.

“In last week’s budget, the UK Labour Government turned its back on Scottish carbon capture, kept in place its tax on our energy which is costing 1,000 jobs every month and completely snubbed Grangemouth. All the while they banked our revenues from the North Sea.

“The Labour Party is making the political choice to abandon Scotland’s industrial base which it once claimed to stand up for. It is no wonder that Scots are concluding that it is only with fresh start of independence that we can build a stronger and wealthier country anew.”

UK reindustrialisation minister Blair McDougall said last week that removing dangerous substances from the site was “one of the key things that is holding back investment.”

Read more: Removal of chemicals from site holding back Grangemouth investment, says UK minister

The East Renfrewshire MP said: “We had a Grangemouth taskforce meeting again a few days ago, between myself, Scottish Government, Office for Investment, all the all the partners together.

“One of the key things we focused on was: on a former chemicals and refinery site, one of the big challenges is the remediation of the land because that's been identified as one of the key, not by not by all means the only, but one of the key things that is holding back investment.

“And so we're looking at how can we move more quickly on that, so that we can we can bring in those jobs and that investment, because the the money the money is there and ready to ready to be deployed when we get those investments to to progress.”

The SNP has been particularly critical of the UK Government for not yet delivering the Grangemouth money - and has also accused it of “ignoring questions” from local MSPs on the issue.

Some 400 workers were made redundant when the plant stopped refining last year and converted to a fuel imports terminal.

Owners Petroineos - a joint venture between Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Chinese state owned Petrochina - announced they were closing Scotland’s last remaining oil refinery in 2024.

Nealy 400 more jobs at industrial hub are at risk after chemical manufacturer Syngenta announced that it plans to cease all operations at the site by the end of 2027.

The company, owned by state Chinese firm Sinochem, said the closure would result in 377 job losses, although it added that no final decision had been made.

The technology company produces crop protection and seeds for farmers around the world.

Syngenta is currently based at the site of the former ICI plant in Grangemouth, which forms part of Scotland's largest industrial hub.

Mr McDougall said he did not want “to offer people false hope” about keeping their jobs.

Read more: Nearly 400 jobs to be lost at Grangemouth as chemicals producer to close plant

“It's incredibly challenging. It's a very, very difficult situation. So I'm not going to offer people false hope.

“What I can say is the company are being very open with us and working very closely with us about all the different options for the future of the site, but as I say, for me it it just reinforces the importance of moving at speed in that wider kind of industrial plan for the Grangemouth site.”

He added that he had met with Syngenta earlier this week.

He said: “I met with them again a few days ago, which I think is my my third meeting with them.

“They're in a pretty tough situation with the decisions being taken at their global HQ. We're continuing to talk to them about how to support the workforce, about the potential for alternative investment on the site.

“Obviously the wider job we've got to do in in Grangemouth is about sort of remediating the sites and getting the ability to unlock that £200m National Wealth Fund investment that we put in, as well as the £120 million we put in to keep the keep the chemicals businesses going.”

The move by Syngenta comes just over a year after it was paid £1m of a £2.2m grant by Scottish Enterprise to expand the site. However, the company said it would pay back the sum in full if the site closes.

A government spokesperson said: “We worked closely with Syngenta and the Scottish Government to explore every possible avenue to support Grangemouth and its workforce and will continue to do so, though the company ultimately made a commercial decision to close the site.

“We remain committed to supporting jobs in Grangemouth following the hundreds we have already protected, and the National Wealth Fund stands ready to invest £200 million alongside £14.5 million grant funding from last year’s Budget, which is already being delivered.

“We have already taken bold action to support our chemicals sector, including £350 million for critical chemicals producers.”