New buyer a 'priority' to secure future of Mossmorran plant

Crunch talks between the governments, Fife Council, trade unions and local businesses, saw agreement that saving the plant would be the “optimal outcome”.

However there was an acknowledgement that owners ExxonMobil said they had been unable to sell. It is scheduled for closure in February.

And there was a reported potential offer of new work by defence giant Babcock, with the meeting told some of the plant’s skilled workforce could potentially be re-employed at its Rosyth yard.

Secretary of State for Scotland, Douglas Alexander, told LBC the meeting had been “constructive”.

He said: “The unions were very clear that they would like an alternative buyer, and from a UK government point of view, and to be fair, from a Scottish government point of view, there was a recognition that would be the optimal outcome.

“Let's hope that we see an alternative buyer emerge in the coming weeks, although ExxonMobil have been very clear to us in recent months they were not expecting the site to be able to be sold and that they hadn't managed to secure an alternative buyer.

“So we made clear a willingness to work with any prospective buyer of the site because that's the optimal outcome. But we also were looking at other contingencies, talking to the local college, talking to local employers, and they were very keen to emphasise that they have a real interest in what's a highly skilled workforce in Mossmorran.”

Asked if he was convinced ExxonMobil had been strenuous in its efforts to find a buyer he added: “Well, they have looked across the table and told me directly that they have been marketing the site, but at the same time, they've got rid of the facility that they had in northern France, they've closed down their operations in the North Sea, and we judged as a UK government, this was a commercial decision.

“ExxonMobil were telling us they were losing about a million a month, that they would require changes worth about a billion dollars to be able to keep the plant, and even then they couldn't guarantee a route to profitability. So if an alternative buyer emerges, of course, that would be the optimal outcome, but it really would be for ExxonMobil to answer into account for how seriously they've been marketing the plant.”

The company had previously told LBC it had "worked actively to find a buyer but no viable offer was forthcoming". It has blamed high energy prices and carbon taxes, as well as market prices for ethylene, for Mossmorran's closure.

Mr Alexander said that if no buyer was forthcoming there would be support for workers through the DWP and the Scottish Government but that he had been “encouraged by local employers like Babcock, who were emphasising that while there could be skills packages available for the workforce, there is a growing order book at Babcocks.”

He added: “We saw just at the weekend announced from the G20, a four billion pound order secured by the Prime Minister with Indonesia which will sustain about a 1000 jobs for Babcock across the country, a lot of them here in Fife in Rosyth.

“But the focus today was could there be an alternative buyer found, which would keep the plant operating and keep the workforce in place.”

Ivan McKee, Scotland's public finance minister, who also attended the meeting, said the closure should be paused while a new buyer is found.

“The immediate ask of the company is that they pause the decision that they've made because it's happening very, very quickly,” he told LBC.

“We only found out about it last week. It's important that there's a bit more time to understand the reasons for the decision and what opportunities there are to address that.

"That's the first ask, and then to understand what we can do to help, to work with ExxonMobil, to keep the site open, or failing that to find another investor that could come in and take the site over.”

He added: “The meeting today gives us some clarity as to how to approach this and what to take to ExxonMobil when the Deputy First Minister meets them tomorrow with all the partners, the unions, the colleagues, Scottish Enterprise and others.

‘They [ExxonMobil] weren’t invited to today’s meeting but I can understand why because it was important, I think, that those impacted by the decision could have space to have a conversation. But the summit tomorrow is a very important follow-up from today's meeting, to be able to impress on the company the outcome from these discussions.”

Fife Council leader David Ross said that the closure of the plant would be a "devastating blow" for workers and also called for a pause.

"Fife Council will work with all partners to explore future opportunities for the site and for the wider Fife economy and the council stands ready to do everything within its power to support those affected and to secure a positive future for the area."

Douglas Alexander confirmed the UK government would be represented at the second summit on Tuesday, convened by the Scottish government.

There had been a political spat between the UK and Scottish governments over the weekend after they invited each other to different meetings.

Alexander had called on Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes to attend today’s meeting organised by Fife Council, saying the workforce "deserved unity rather than political squabbles", while Forbes had urged the UK government to take "urgent action.”

He told LBC: “We want to work collaboratively with the Scottish Government with Fife Council and with all interested parties to try and get the best outcome for the workforce. That's what I think people would expect and that's what the workforce want and deserve.”

Mr McKee added: “If you look back at these industrial closure situations - and there's been many of them over many years - in quite a number the outcome after an initial closure announcement has been that either a resolution has been found and the company's able to continue to operate, because governments have been able to do what they can to support, or another buyer has been found.

“So clearly, those are our priorities in the immediate term. Now, we recognise that that may or may not be successful, and every situation is different. We'll work as hard as we can, to keep the site open. But, of course, if that doesn't turn out to be the situation despite best efforts, then we will work very hard to make sure that the workforce is supported.

“But the immediate priority is to create a pause in this process.”