The Scottish Government says it does not have data on the number of manufacturing jobs created in the past five years – which includes public investment made to bus maker Alexander Dennis – which is planning to move production to England endangering 400 Scottish jobs.
And ministers are being further questioned about how the Scottish Government’s Green Industrial Strategy, published in September 2024, contains no reference to bus manufacturing in Scotland.
Last month, Alexander Dennis announced it was considering relocating production from its Larbert and Camelon sites near Falkirk to Scarborough in North Yorkshire, citing cost-cutting reasons.
Union representatives have said the move could endanger approximately 400 Scottish jobs.
This news follows the loss of more than 400 jobs just a few miles away in Grangemouth, where the local oil refinery recently closed and was converted into an import terminal.
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The Herald revealed that nearly £90m of public money gone to Alexander Dennis to support Scottish jobs over ten years before it embarked on plan to move operations to England.
According to Scottish Government records, ADL received £58m of public ‘subsidy’ for green vehicles since 2020 under two schemes aimed at transitioning Scotland to green buses – despite the company having embarked on a 2020 plan to axe a third of its Scottish workforce.
And some £30m of jobs grants for research and development over 10 years has come from the Scottish Government’s economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.
Some £11.2m of those jobs grants from Scottish Enterprise came in 2023, three years after concerns were raised over ADL embarking on major job cuts in 2020.
A bus on the Alexander Dennis pipeline in Falkirk
By the time the 2020 jobs cut was in place ADL had already received over £8m in ‘job securing’ taxpayer funding which was promoted as supporting building a new greener business in Scotland.
Former community safety minister Ash Regan who has been quizzing ministers about the number of manufacturing jobs created as a result of public and private investment – was told that neither the Scottish Government or Scottish Enterprise held the information.
She was told in as response that details on analysis on how Scotland has performed in terms of attracting investment in key sectors was available from an survey carried out by consultants EY.
Alba’s Edinburgh Eastern MSP said: “The Scottish Government should be tracking investment across the country so that we can ensure that we are committing the right resources to where they are needed most to maximise benefit for Scotland. Their failure to do so leaves inward investors and SMEs with a postcode lottery to secure the support of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise.
“A national effort is needed to reverse the manufacturing decline of the past decades and ensure that every community in Scotland gets the right investment to create opportunities, ensuring that good jobs are on the doorstep of all Scots.”
Last week, Fife-based bus manufacturer has made 81 employees redundant after it entered administration.
Workers at Greenfold Systems Ltd in Dunfermline were previously put on notice of potential job losses as a knock-on effect of bus company Alexander Dennis planning to pull out of Scotland.
Around half the staff on site were working on parts for the Larbert-based company.
And analysis from the Robert Gordon University last month has warned that the oil and gas industry could lose up to 400 jobs every two weeks for the next five years unless action is taken.
It says that the UK risks losing tens of thousands of offshore energy jobs by 2030 unless urgent and coordinated action is taken immediately. It is estimated that 43% of the UK’s oil and gas jobs are in Scotland.
Ash Regan (Image: PA) Ms Regan added: “It seems that there isn’t a week that goes by without another blow to Scotland’s manufacturing capacity. Whether it’s the closure of our only refinery, bus manufacturers or a scale back of the oil and gas industry. Scotland desperately needs an industrial strategy to create and sustain high quality jobs for today and build the skillsets and infrastructure for the emergent industries of tomorrow.
“Inward investment is key to keeping and creating quality jobs in Scotland, by securing our remaining industries. Yet, inward investment alone cannot create and sustain Scotland as the economic powerhouse we should aspire to be. We must also invest in infrastructure for connectivity and support the boundless potential of Scotland’s Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) – the economic backbone that drives profits back into Scotland. ”
The Scottish Government was accused of “strategic neglect” after the Herald revealed the extent of support Alexander Dennis has had – while the First Minister was warned last year that it was “reconsidering” its “entire investment” in Scotland.
The SNP-led Scottish Government and the Labour-led UK Government agreed to establish a joint working group to discuss options to find a solution and avert job losses.
They are looking at how far they ‘can push’ the UK ‘state aid’ rules set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 to create a support package to save the 400 jobs.
Alexander Dennis have said that they are engaging with both governments “in good faith “.
Unions have previously warned that “time is running out” on the company before a request for an extension on consultation over jobs to August 15 was granted, while the Scottish Parliament is in recess until August 31.
Meanwhile, Colin Smyth, convener of the Scottish Parliament’s economy committee has asked the finance secretary Shona Robison, what the Scottish Government’s view is on maintaining domestic manufacturing capacity in the bus sector. It came as the Green Industrial Strategy failed to reference bus manufacturing
He told her: “Given the strategic importance of Alexander Dennis, the high quality of its workforce and the role of manufacturing in Scotland’s future economy, it is vital that every possible action is taken to retain manufacturing, and the jobs it provides.”
He added: Ministers must act with urgency and ambition to help keep these jobs and avoid a world-class manufacturer shutting its doors in Scotland.”
Deputy first minister Kate Forbes said:“Scotland has a high value, high quality manufacturing sector that supports 178,000 jobs across the country and accounts for more than half of Scotland’s international exports. In 2023 it contributed £18.1 billion in GVA to Scotland’s economy.
“Significant strategic work takes place across the public sector to achieve this investment in our manufacturing base: Scottish Enterprise helped create or safeguard nearly 5,000 manufacturing jobs in 2024-25. The latest EY Annual Attractiveness Survey results meanwhile show that Scotland secured its largest share of manufacturing inward investment coming into the UK in 2024 – securing more than a fifth all UK projects.
“Scottish Development International, the international division representing all three enterprise agencies, ensures inward investment is made in the best location with the appropriate support package to establish new business, jobs and opportunities in the country.”
The Scottish Government said that Ms Regan did not specifically request data relating to the number of manufacturing jobs in Scotland created through public money. But it has been argued that publicly funded investment was cleared implied by the question.
