Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 02 December 2020
It is just over three years since the workforce of BiFab marched down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament to fight for their jobs and their community. The company was on the brink of collapse and jobs were in the balance. Through no fault of their own—this was a hard-working, skilled and respected workforce—the company faced administration and the workers redundancy.
I recognise the role that the Scottish Government played in retrieving that situation and enabling that contract to be fulfilled. It did so through an investment of public money into the company and the bringing in of DF Barnes with investor JV Driver.
We face a situation wherein the company is again on the brink of collapse, and the Scottish Government appears to be falling short. The cabinet secretary said yesterday that she had “examined and exhausted” all options. This past Tuesday, the Scottish Government and the UK Government issued a joint statement that ruled out financial support for BiFab, effectively bringing to an end the prospect of up to 500 jobs from the NnG contract. The statement also said that the working group will
“explore options for the future of the sites”
where BiFab currently operates, which suggests to me that the Scottish Government thinks that BiFab is finished. The Scottish Government and the UK Government must take joint responsibility for cutting off that lifeline for the company.
Lord Davidson challenged the Scottish Government’s defence of state aid rules and said that the decision looked to be “irrational” and could be open to judicial review. At the very least, the decision would appear pre-emptive, as we are weeks away from leaving the European Union. There are questions to be answered over what has taken place over the past three years and other members have spoken about that.