To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support manufacturing, including in the renewable energy sector. (S6O-05263)

The Scottish Government is committed to a thriving manufacturing sector, as underlined by our £75 million investment in the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland. Manufacturing accounts for 178,000 jobs and more than half Scotland’s international exports. In 2023, the sector contributed £18.1 billion in gross value added to Scotland’s economy.

The Deputy First Minister will recognise that securing manufacturing capacity in the renewable energy sector in Scotland is critical to the delivery of a just transition. She will also be aware that Ming Yang has proposed a £1.5 billion investment in a manufacturing facility at Ardersier. She will recognise that the delay in the United Kingdom Government making a decision on the matter is now causing significant uncertainty in the renewable energy sector.

What engagement has the Deputy First Minister had with the UK Government on the issue? Will she ensure that she presses the UK Government for an early decision on the matter, given the economic benefits that that investment would bring not only to the Highlands but to Scotland as a whole?

Jobs in the manufacturing sector are among the biggest prizes for our economy in the just transition. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build, create and manufacture products that will be essential for the just transition and the renewables industry. The export of such products will ensure that Scotland is at the heart of the global transition to net zero.

We totally understand the importance of national security, but the time that it is taking for the decision to be made is damaging for the supply chain and developers, because the uncertainty is essentially stalling momentum, which means that others are not making the timely decisions that are required to boost our economy.

The Deputy First Minister has talked about support for manufacturing, but communities across Forth Valley are still waiting for basic transparency about the future of the Ineos Olefins and Polymers plant at Grangemouth. I have written to the Deputy First Minister a couple of times to seek some detailed answers about the Government’s contingency planning for the site, but I have not yet seen any detail.

Given the scale of the risk to hundreds of highly skilled jobs and to Scotland’s wider industrial base, will the Deputy First Minister set out what contingency planning is in place for the O and P plant, which Scottish Government directorates are leading the work and when the Parliament will finally be given a transparent plan, rather than reassurances that, sadly, have too often not matched reality in the past?

It varies, but I engage with the O and P plant, on average, about once a month, which reflects the site’s importance. I completely agree with Stephen Kerr’s emphasis on the importance of the site.

There are on-going conversations with the United Kingdom Government on the bulk of any support that would be required for the plant, but the Scottish Government has also explored options for support.

Ultimately—and I guess that this will create some frustration—a lot of the information is very commercially sensitive, as Stephen Kerr will appreciate. However, I assure him that engagement is taking place, on average, once a month, and that the issue forms part of the agenda for my direct engagement with UK Government ministers, such is the importance of the plant.