To ask the First Minister when the Scottish Government last met with Ineos or Petroineos to discuss the refinery at Grangemouth. (S6F-03558)

The Scottish Government continues to engage regularly with key stakeholders, following the announcement by Petroineos that it intends to cease refining at Grangemouth. The Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy last met the business on 5 November, and Government officials met staff in the business last week.

Yesterday, Unite the union gave evidence to the Economy and Fair Work Committee. In Unite’s view, Grangemouth is a “profitable” site, and “a distorted picture” has been given from the accounts available. It believes that there can be no justification for a closure now, and that money spent to support a bio-refinery will be wasted if the underlying skill base is lost.

The UK Government, with its inaction, has much to answer for, but will the First Minister commit to working on a pause in the closure, and not accept the loss of that national strategic asset without a clearer path to a just transition?

I recently met Derek Thomson of Unite to discuss the very issues that Michelle Thomson puts to me. She will be aware that the Scottish Government believes that the announcement of the closure of the refinery is a premature decision, and that it accelerates a change that does not need to take place at this stage, but which could be managed over a number of further years to enable us to put more alternatives in place.

Michelle Thomson asked me whether I would support a pause in plans to close the refinery, and I do support that. I have put that point to the Prime Minister and expressed the Scottish Government’s willingness to work with the United Kingdom Government to find a way to work with the company to avoid the premature closure of the refinery. That will be the Scottish Government’s position as we continue to work with the UK Government and the company to try to avoid economic disruption and damage to the Grangemouth area and especially to the livelihoods of the workers who are involved.

The refinery is scheduled to close in quarter 2, skilled workers are already leaving the area—the very people who are needed for the transition—and project willow will not report until later next year. If we cannot have the full willow report sooner, can we see an interim report much, much sooner? Which projects in the growth deal can be expedited to tackle the immediate threat to nearly 3,000 jobs?

I do not think that I could commit to earlier publication of the project willow report. In essence, that is why, in my answer to Michelle Thomson, I argued for more time to reach a situation where other credible opportunities can be pursued. Such opportunities take time to develop. From the Government’s perspective, the important point is that the closure of the refinery needs to be delayed. That is the Scottish Government’s position.

With regard to other potential proposals, I have set out to Parliament the importance that I see in the investment in the Acorn carbon capture and storage project, which would provide significant opportunities to the Grangemouth site. I was very disappointed that we did not get any progress on the issue in the United Kingdom budget in late October. I made that point again to the Prime Minister, because I believe that the Acorn project would provide us with significant opportunity to take forward and address Mr Kerr’s significant point.

It is beginning to look as though the First Minister has accepted defeat with regard to Scotland’s ever becoming an independent country, because, under his watch, Scotland will become the only top-25 oil-producing nation that has no refining capacity. How has it come to this—that a nationalist Government looks away, helpless, as key national infrastructure is lost for ever?

I do not think that Ash Regan has listened to a word that I have said in response to Michelle Thomson or Stephen Kerr, because I said that I am actively pursuing an option to maintain the refining capacity at Grangemouth. If that needs to be stated again, I will state it again to Parliament so that it is clearly understood.

Economic damage will be done if there is no intervention to prolong the life of the refinery at Grangemouth. If we do that, we will have the opportunity to secure carbon capture and storage and to take forward the other projects through the project willow exercise. That will provide a secure future for the Grangemouth site. Let there be no doubt about it: the Scottish Government is actively pursuing these opportunities to protect the workers at Grangemouth.