Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and Euan Stainbank

Tuesday 2nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

T3. My constituents Gillian and Ross worked at INEOS Olefins & Polymers, and started retraining in 2024, following the announcement in 2023 that the Grangemouth refinery would close. However, they were recently denied support, due to limits on the Grangemouth workers training guarantee. Will the Government, alongside the Scottish Government, review the Grangemouth workers training guarantee, so that support can be extended to workers like Gillian and Ross?

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

I thank my hon. Friend for all the work he has done to support the workers from Grangemouth. I wrote to him earlier this week on the case of his two constituents. The training fund was set up to provide that support. We will continue to look at it, and I am happy to meet him to discuss it further.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Michael Shanks and Euan Stainbank

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Michael Shanks]

I have always appreciated my engagement with the hon. Lady on these questions. The cumulative impact of applications is covered by the planning system, which considers all those impacts, but the hon. Lady is right to suggest that the land use framework and the strategic spatial energy plan are about taking a more strategic approach to the way in which we look at where such projects are sited. As for the question of community benefits, we have consulted on that and will say more shortly, but our general view as a Government is that communities should benefit from hosting infrastructure, particularly solar, which has often not produced the same community benefits as other infrastructure.

[Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)]

Last month the Energy Minister stated that the £200 million investment in Grangemouth from the national wealth fund that was secured by Scottish Labour Members has brought private investment to the table. Does he agree that we need an anchor industry in Grangemouth with a scale and skills profile similar to those of the former oil refinery, and that we also need the Government to take a partial stake and to make an announcement, this side of Christmas, on the direction of Grangemouth’s industrial future?

[Michael Shanks]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who has worked extremely hard with the Government and with the national wealth fund to ensure that we are bringing projects forward. More than 100 projects came forward for that £200 million investment by this Labour Government through the wealth fund; we are considering all of them, and hope to make announcements soon. However, as my hon. Friend will understand, given the substantial amounts of public money involved, we must ensure that due diligence in respect of all those businesses and projects is complete before we can make any announcements.