Mossmorran: we’ll support workers and build positive future
On Monday, I attended the second Mossmorran stakeholder meeting, and it was genuinely encouraging to see everyone coming together to help.
The closure of the Mossmorran plant has been a real blow for Fife. For decades, the site has provided highly skilled, well-paid work and supported a wide network of contractors and local businesses. The impact of its loss is being felt across Fife, but there is a determination to support workers and build a positive future.
In January, I was pleased to see the Scottish Government moving quickly when the closure was confirmed, putting in place a clear plan to help workers who suddenly found themselves facing huge uncertainty.
A key part of that plan is the £9 million package, designed to help workers retrain, upskill and move into new opportunities that match both their experience and ambitions.
The partnership with Fife College is one of the strongest examples of that approach. Backed by up to £1.3 million of Scottish Government funding, the college is delivering tailored training in engineering, project management, health and safety and other areas where demand is growing.
What makes this partnership stand out is the way it treats workers as individuals, with every employee and contractor receiving a skills assessment and a personalised pathway that reflects their own situation and background. It is practical and is helping to give people confidence that they have a future beyond this shocking closure.
We know that we need to prepare our workforce for the industries Scotland wants to grow, including low carbon energy and advanced manufacturing, this investment recognises this and, I believe, is a springboard to achieving it.
In stark contrast, the UK Government has only this week announced funding of its own to support the future of the site.
I think it’s fair to say that those contrasting positions have not gone unnoticed by the local community. It’s certainly hard to ignore the fact that when workers needed urgent clarity, one government stepped up immediately while the other only acted once it became impossible to ignore the growing pressure from those affected.