Questions are growing over the £200 million promised by the UK Government for Grangemouth after the Scottish Government said none of the National Wealth Fund allocation has yet been spent.
The money was announced in February 2025 to support new industrial opportunities at Grangemouth, with the UK Government saying it would be available for investment alongside private sector funding.
The issue was raised at Holyrood’s Economy and Fair Work Committee by SNP MSP Martyn Day, with the party arguing that Labour’s wider promises of industrial renewal should be judged against what has happened at Grangemouth.
The £200 million commitment was intended to support viable proposals for the long term industrial future of the site rather than being an immediate payment directly to the refinery.
Project Willow subsequently identified nine potential options for Grangemouth, including areas such as plastics recycling and hydrogen production.
The UK Government has continued to describe the £200 million National Wealth Fund commitment as backing for new opportunities at the site.
Separate public money has been committed to Grangemouth through other programmes, including the Falkirk and Grangemouth Growth Deal, meaning the claim that none of the £200 million has been spent should not be interpreted as meaning no government funding has been spent in the wider Grangemouth area.
Day said:
“A Scunthorpe steel plant was nationalised, a refinery in Lincolnshire rescued and two further steelworks sites in England too, but we were told Grangemouth couldn’t be saved.
“The evidence from committee this week was clear, £0 of the £200m has been delivered and workers are expected to be wooed by Labour Party talk of reindustrialisation.
“Give me a break.
“Those words ring hollow with the workers of Grangemouth, of Mossmorran, of our offshore industry and of our renewables sector.
“It’s the same old story where heavy industry becomes more critical depending on which side of the Tweed it falls.
“Through a fresh start with independence, Scottish industry will play second fiddle to no one.”
The future of Grangemouth has remained a major political and economic issue since Petroineos announced that refining would end at the site.
The UK and Scottish governments have both backed work aimed at finding a new industrial future for Grangemouth, with Project Willow examining potential low carbon industries capable of operating there.
For workers and the wider community, attention is now turning from the size of the commitments being announced to when the £200 million National Wealth Fund allocation begins translating into investment on the ground.
