Hundreds of former Grangemouth workers receiving skills support – minister

More than 260 workers from the shuttered Grangemouth oil refinery have received skills support to help them find new work.

The UK Government says 184 workers have already begun training following the Prime Minister’s commitment to a “training guarantee” for all refinery staff.

Scotland’s last oil refinery ceased processing at the beginning of May. Owners PetroIneos had said it was loss-making and less efficient than other refineries.

In the months leading up to the shut-down, hundreds of workers took voluntary redundancy while a number of compulsory redundancies were also made.

Every PetroIneos worker affected by the decision to close the oil refinery has been provided the opportunity for one-to-one interviews with careers specialists at Forth Valley College.

Sir Keir Starmer’s “training guarantee” was made in February, alongside a £200 million pledge to invest in future opportunities for the industrial site.

UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks will discuss the site’s future at a taskforce meeting on Wednesday, alongside the Scottish Government’s acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin.

Mr Shanks said: “The workforce at Grangemouth is highly skilled with significant transferrable experience which our training commitment recognises by providing tailored support for workers into new employment opportunities.

“As well as continuing to work to secure the site’s long-term industrial future, we want to ensure no worker is left behind and that they are equipped with the skills they need to secure good jobs.”

Ms Martin added: “The Scottish Government’s immediate focus has rightly been on supporting workers who have lost their jobs.

“We committed up to £450,000 to ensure that they are supported and assisted to secure other employment and to contribute their valuable skills to Scotland’s green economy.

“That is why we are also working to secure Grangemouth’s role in that future and create an investible industrial strategy for the site.

“It’s clear that real progress is being made on the findings from Project Willow.”

One of those who received the training support was former refinery worker Steven Bell, who took part in a range of courses and was able to find work at a company involved in the pharmaceutical sector.

Mr Bell said: “The support I received from Forth Valley College with retraining during the redundancy process has been exceptional.

“From my one-to-one meetings discussing courses that I would be interested in and what my future career path might be, right through to getting booked onto the courses I had selected, nothing was too much trouble.”