Grangemouth Refinery

Lord McAvoy Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord McAvoy (Lab)]

My Lords, with permission I will repeat the response made by the Official Opposition’s spokesperson in the other place.

“The closure of the petrochemical plant at Grangemouth means that 800 people employed there and more employed as sub-contractors will lose their jobs. Ineos chairman, Jim Ratcliffe, had said at the weekend that if the petrochemical plant closed, it was likely that the refinery would go too.

There are reports this morning that Grangemouth might have fallen between the cracks, with neither the devolved Scottish Government nor UK Government Ministers getting to grips with the issue.

John Swinney, the Scottish Finance Minister, claimed yesterday that he was in discussion with potential buyers for Grangemouth. Can the Secretary of State tell the House whether he is aware of these discussions and what involvement he or his Ministers have had?

The Unite union had committed not to strike, with no preconditions, while negotiations over pay and conditions were undertaken. PetroChina, the 50% shareholder in Ineos’s refinery business, made a statement calling for all parties to get back round the table and reach a consensus. But today, rather than coming back to the negotiating table, Ineos has announced that it will close the profitable petrochemical plant. There were reports on the BBC this morning that management delivered the news with smiles on their faces.

Does the Secretary of State agree with me that Ineos should have got round the table to negotiate rather than delivering ultimatums? And can he tell the House what discussions he has had with Ineos management and the union in the past 24 hours and what support the Government are providing for those who have lost their jobs today?

In its report on UK oil refining in July 2013, the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee found a mismatch between refinery supply of petroleum products and demand, but the Government are still yet to respond. Can the Secretary of State be confident that the Grangemouth refinery will stay open? What contingency plans are in place to secure fuel supplies for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England? And given the current shut down and uncertainty over the closure of Grangemouth, will the Secretary of State now commit to undertake the review of UK refining capacity which the right honourable Member for Wealden promised in June 2012 in response to the closure of Coryton refinery?”.