To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding support for the workforce and local economy of Mossmorran, in light of ExxonMobil’s announcement that the Fife ethylene plant will be closed. (S6O-05266)

We are engaging with them extensively, and I very much appreciated Willie Rennie’s attendance at the summit that I hosted a few weeks ago. Since the announced closure, the First Minister and I have been in regular discussion on the topic. I have also been engaging with the Minister for Public Finance and the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy to ensure that the Government remains focused on securing the best possible outcome for the site.

I appreciated the Deputy First Minister’s leadership at that summit.

Apart from the initial furore, there has been a lot of silence since the announcement, despite the fact that it will have a big impact on the local economy—I am sure that that is what the Deputy First Minister found when she visited the plant. Will she tell us of more tangible progress that is being made, such as who has been interested in coming to the site, how many jobs could be secured from that and how quickly it could happen?

I would be very happy to give Willie Rennie an update today, but—and perhaps this would be more useful—I want to continue to keep him updated as the process develops. As part of Scottish Enterprise’s early engagement, it has been working very constructively with ExxonMobil since the announcement was made.

We are looking at two potential opportunities. The first involves projects that were identified through project willow or the Grangemouth task force. Some of those projects might be a better fit for Mossmorran, and some of the companies are indicating that Mossmorran might be of more interest to them. Those are slightly more medium-term opportunities.

Secondly, and in the short term, Scottish Enterprise is looking at how to mitigate the impact on the local community by identifying ways to increase the number of jobs locally through supporting other employers in the community.

There is time for a couple of supplementary questions, but they will need to be brief.

Does the Cabinet secretary agree that the sky-high cost of energy is crippling Scotland’s industries and that, given the immediate implications for the workers at Mossmorran and while the levers to make a difference and save jobs remain reserved to Westminster, it is essential that the Labour Government acts now to ensure a just transition and to support the energy sector?

Every household in Scotland is aware of how challenging energy prices are and of the fact that they have continued to increase since Labour took office. That is even more challenging for some energy-intensive businesses, which have seen no support and are not subject to a cap on the increase in energy prices. It is all the more difficult to operate in a globally competitive environment when other competitors, particularly across Europe, are seeing lower energy prices.

I listened intently to the Deputy First Minister’s response to Willie Rennie, and in particular to what she said about the project willow projects—which, if it involves taking potential jobs away from Grangemouth to give them to Mossmorran, sounds like robbing Peter to pay Paul. However, there is a wider concern, which is that Grangemouth and Mossmorran closing represents the loss of our industrial base. Where is the Scottish Government’s industrial strategy for the future?

Murdo Fraser said that he was listening intently, but perhaps he was not listening enough. The point that I made was that some of the businesses that have been exploring the prospect of locating in Grangemouth are recognising that Mossmorran may be better suited to their needs. It is not a question of taking from Grangemouth to support Mossmorran; it is one of retaining the jobs in Scotland. Where one site may not be a perfect fit, there may be more appropriate sites, such as at Mossmorran.

We are keen to use the Grangemouth process to support industrial assets generally. We have our green industrial strategy and, at a point such as this, it is a matter of actively delivering for the sites and retaining the jobs as far as we can.

That concludes questions on the Deputy First Minister responsibilities, economy and Gaelic portfolio.