Grangemouth Oil Refinery 2024-05-21
2024-05-21
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Partial Answer
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Context
The question arises from concerns about the future viability and sustainability of the Grangemouth oil refinery, including its economic impact on local communities and industrial transition.
What recent discussions has she had with trade unions on the future of Grangemouth oil refinery beyond 2025?
My Department attended the Grangemouth industrial just transition leadership forum alongside Scotland Office Ministers and representatives of Unite the union on 28 March. We remain in close contact with the Scottish Government and the owner Petroineos. My hon Friend the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero met Scottish Government counterparts and Petroineos management on 15 May and raised the importance of working with the unions.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not provide specific details about tangible support or financial commitments for Grangemouth refinery beyond warm words and meetings.
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
The question addresses the discrepancy between significant UK Government support for an Ineos plant in Belgium while no financial assistance is offered to maintain Grangemouth's operations, raising concerns about job losses and economic impact on Scotland.
Warm words are one thing; tangible support is quite another. If Grangemouth closes, Scotland faces the possibility—indeed, the probability—of being the only major oil producing nation without refinery capacity, yet €700 million has been found by the UK Government to support an Ineos plant in Antwerp while not a penny is available for Grangemouth. Is it to be a Brexit bonus for Belgian workers and a P45 for those Scots at the refinery?
We are working with the Scottish Government and Petroineos to understand all possible options for the future of the refinery. I remind the hon Gentleman that the Conservatives are the only major party who are backing the North sea, the biddings it brings in each year and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that it supports, while a new report last week showed that Labour's plan could lose as many as 100,000 jobs in the next five years.
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Assessment & feedback
Did not address why there is no financial support for Grangemouth compared to the Ineos plant in Antwerp. Instead focused on supporting North Sea oil and criticizing Labour's plan.
Response accuracy