Meeting of the Parliament 18 February 2026 [Draft]
It will be regrettable if this debate becomes a proxy argument about oil and gas policies, about the efficacy of the action that is taken to tackle climate change or about blaming either Government for the situation. My focus, and the focus of the Parliament, must be on the workers affected by the closure of the plant at Mossmorran—more than 300 people will no longer be employed at the site come April—and on the wider impact on families, supply chains and communities in Fife and across Scotland.
The decision to close Mossmorran was taken by ExxonMobil. It was a commercial decision by a multinational corporation that, only days before the announcement, reported distributing more than £27 billion to shareholders. The company extracted decades of productivity and profit from Fife, but, when the asset no longer suited its global portfolio, it walked away. We should be clear on where responsibility for the decision lies.
However, we should also be honest about the context. The Mossmorran plant is more than 40 years old—twice its intended lifespan—and the wider chemicals sector is facing significant global pressure. There were indicators as to what was coming: there were contractor redundancies over the summer, press reports suggesting that the site was up for sale and long-standing concerns about the plant’s future viability.
The Scottish Government had committed to delivering a just transition for Mossmorran, but, when the closure was announced, no transition plan was in place for the workforce. Instead, we had a reactive response to an unmanaged collapse. That is not what a just transition should look like.
I am pleased that both Governments are clear that their focus is on supporting the workforce and that, through the task force, they are working to manage and oversee the local response. Immediately after the closure was announced, support was committed through the DWP’s rapid response service, which will help workers into new jobs. Bringing together Fife Council, both Governments, trade unions, Fife College, local businesses and community organisations in the task force is the right approach. It is co-ordinated, practical and focused on delivery.
Our amendment recognises and welcomes the task force and
“the commitment that workers will be guaranteed interviews at the UK Government-backed Grangemouth cracker”.
That is tangible support for skilled workers.
Fife College has already stepped up by engaging quickly to support affected workers, many of whom trained locally and built their careers at Mossmorran. I recognise the cabinet secretary’s announcement of accelerated funding in that area.
Fife Council is assessing supply chain impacts and the consequences for local high streets. That matters in communities such as Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly and Kelty, where Mossmorran wages supported families and sustained local businesses. Fife knows all too well the cost of industrial decline without a plan. Too many communities were scarred by the closure of coal mines without adequate transition or investment. We cannot repeat that mistake. A just transition means planning ahead, not scrambling after the fact. It means aligning environmental ambition with industrial strategy and putting workers first.
The task force is now developing a master plan for the site, which should inform any future funding and economic support, including the £9 million over three years from the Scottish Government and the forthcoming support from the UK Government. We should maximise opportunities for apprenticeships, retraining and new investment, so that the skills that have been built in Fife are not lost.
This moment demands seriousness from both Governments. The UK Government acted quickly and responsibly. It engaged with ExxonMobil for months ahead of the closure, but, despite its best efforts, there was no viable option for securing a long-term future for the site.
The warning signs were clear to see. That is why a just transition plan was needed. The loss of high-value jobs is a significant blow, but that blow might have been mitigated by better planning for those workers’ futures. By lacking a transition plan, the Scottish Government has broken and not acted to fulfil the commitment that it made to workers at Mossmorran.
Fife Council is doing work regarding the supply chain and the potential impact that the closure will have on the local high streets and communities. We should work with local employers to maximise opportunities for skills and apprenticeships.
Having recently visited the Navantia yard in Methil, for which the UK Government did a huge amount of work to ensure that it stayed open, I know that some workers have taken up opportunities there. Our focus now needs to be on providing certainty, co-ordination and opportunities for the workers of Mossmorran and on ensuring that commitments to a just transition are delivered in practice.