Seòmar agus comataidhean

I understand the question. It is a fair point. I used SSEN in the north-east as an example. Jobs are being created across Scotland and there will be job opportunities there.

For the Grangemouth site, we are looking to take forward opportunities, as I said, through the Grangemouth future industry board and our just transition plan, as well as through the work that we are doing with the joint venture, the UK Government and others to ensure that there is continued industrial capacity and new opportunities in areas such as hydrogen, carbon capture and the biorefinery. We are trying to ensure that those opportunities happen as quickly as possible, although we recognise that some of them are at a more advanced stage than others and that some depend on decisions that are not for us to make. Some of the decisions are outwith our control, but we continue to push hard to see progress in those areas.

We are doing that work. We will continue to do that work, alongside other parties, including enterprise agencies and the Grangemouth future industry board.

As I said, the critical element that we have before us is about helping to inform the decision that the joint venture will take about the future of the refinery itself. Obviously, we understand that that will have an economic impact, and we will continue to work on what that looks like and made an assessment of it alongside other parties.

We will continue to work on that. I do not want to give any definitive timescales or dates around what we will be able to publish.

Absolutely. It is central to the on-going work, and that has been the case through its development. You have repeated again that the 400 figure is an assumption rather than a definite figure—

I understand that. I am simply saying that, at this stage, that is still an assumption rather than a definite figure. We are looking to do everything we can do to make sure that we maximise the number of jobs that are retained at the site and that can be retained in the wider community.

I absolutely understand that Grangemouth is a hub of industrial activity and that it brings with it investment in the wider community and the supply chain that feeds it. Mr Hardie articulated the fact that there will be on-going business based on the import terminal, which will ensure that there are still business opportunities there. A complex supply chain feeds a number of different aspects of the Grangemouth site.

We are still assessing, alongside the impact on the business, what the likely impact on the supply chain will be, but I hope that it will be maintained in as strong a position as possible. That is partly why we are carrying on with the work on the just transition plan and looking for a further meeting, with ministerial involvement from both the Scottish Government and the UK Government, of the Grangemouth future industry board early in January—I think that the date of 18 January has been proposed—in order that we can examine exactly those types of questions.

Good morning, convener and colleagues, and thank you very much for having me along again this morning.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the emerging situation, as far as we understand it, at the Grangemouth refinery. I welcome and value your support on that important issue.

I recognise that this is a more than unsettling time for the workforce at the Grangemouth refinery, and I reiterate the Scottish Government’s absolute commitment to doing all that we can to support it. I also recognise the potential impact of the announcement in the longer term for supply chain businesses, and I commit to ensuring that any subsequent decision that is taken takes cognisance of the wider economic impacts for business, local people and communities.

It is important to acknowledge the role that Grangemouth has played nationally and locally as part of our industrial infrastructure. It is Scotland’s largest industrial site and it is an integrated cluster of strategic infrastructure, with expertise in downstream oil, chemicals, petrochemicals and innovation. It is also hugely important for logistics, as it is Scotland’s largest port.

There are three major industrial sites: the Petroineos fuel refinery; Ineos Olefins & Polymers UK, which focuses on petrochemicals; and Ineos FPS—Forties pipeline system—for the oil and gas pipelines. Together, those three businesses employ around 1,800 of the 2,000 employees at Grangemouth.

The Petroineos refinery is the focus of the recent announcement. The refinery dates back to 1924, and it is currently owned and operated under the terms of a joint venture formed in 2011 by Ineos and PetroChina.

In those early days a century ago, before the exploration of North Sea oil, the refinery relied solely upon oil sourced from across the globe, much like its operation today. It currently has 500 direct full-time employees and delivers £150 million of gross value added annually. Grangemouth is Scotland’s largest industrial site, as I have said, with an integrated cluster of strategic infrastructure and expertise in critical elements of our economy.

I have set all of that out to make it clear how important the site and the refinery are to us. That is why we are focusing on working with the refinery management and staff to start the transition to the future.

As members would expect, the First Minister and I have met the refinery’s senior management team to receive an update on what the announcement means. We subsequently met shareholders yesterday. It remains our understanding that the announcement is not, at this point, a decision to close the refinery but a decision to start the necessary preparations to have the potential to transition Grangemouth to an import terminal. During the meetings, we stressed the importance of ensuring that workers are at the centre of any decisions that the business takes on the refinery’s transition. The business agreed on the importance of working collaboratively with the Scottish Government and trade unions throughout the transition period.

I have also met representatives of, and written to, Unite the union and the Scottish Trades Union Congress. We are aligned on the imperative of securing a just transition for Grangemouth, the industrial cluster and its workforce. It is our intention to publish the just transition plan by spring next year. I am sure that members will want to discuss and hear more about that work during this evidence session and subsequent evidence sessions.

I finish by reminding the committee that the responsibility for the security of fuel supplies lies with the UK Government. Contingency planning relating to fuel supplies is therefore the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. Members will be aware that I have written to the secretary of state. I have also had a constructive meeting with the Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Graham Stuart, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, John Lamont, who have both assured me that the appropriate plans are in place in the event that there is any disruption to fuel supplies from Grangemouth.

It is my intention and hope that we will continue to work constructively as things develop, not least to ensure that we prioritise the wellbeing of the highly skilled workforce and that any final decision safeguards the business’s role as a supplier of road and air fuels for years to come.

I look forward to taking your questions.

Yes—that is a fair assessment, and we are absolutely working on that.

The critical element is making sure that we continue to work on some of the other opportunities that are available for the site, including carbon capture and storage and the central role that the Grangemouth site plays in the Scottish cluster. Questions were previously raised about hydrogen and the potential for a biorefinery, which will be absolutely critical in ensuring that there is not just a shift, as Ms Chapman suggested, but also a transition. As Iain Hardie set out, the hydrogen and biorefinery elements are works in progress and areas that we still need to make sure all partners are looking to drive forward as quickly as possible.

There are two elements to your question. First, to answer the final part of it, we are publishing our just transition plan early next year. The Grangemouth future industry board continues to be active and working, and I will make sure that its activities and forward work are shared with the committee. I can follow up with correspondence on that, unless Susie has further information that she wants to impart right now.

The green freeport will capture significant activity beyond the Grangemouth site. We are looking to ensure that opportunities are taken advantage of through the green freeport, such as supplying, manufacturing and other services for the offshore renewables sector and other industrial activity.

The joint venture has taken its decision on a commercial basis and, I suspect, regardless of the freeport status. It has been taken with a wider macroeconomic situation in mind. I am happy to have a further discussion about the green freeport and what our ambitions are for it, but I do not think that that had a particular bearing on the decision that has been taken.