SNP told to 'look themselves in the mirror' over bus maker Alexander Dennis job cuts

SNP ministers have been told to “look themselves in the mirror” over job cuts at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis.

Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said it "cannot be right" for the mayor of Greater Manchester to have ordered more buses from the firm than the Scottish Government.

He suggested SNP ministers had failed to act with urgency over the job losses.

The company announced on Wednesday it was proposing to consolidate its UK operations at a single site in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

The decision puts 400 jobs at risk at its facility in Falkirk in another blow to the Forth Valley, which has already seen more than 400 jobs go at the Grangemouth refinery this year.

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Speaking to The Scotsman, Mr Murray said: "As I understand it, Alexander Dennis contacted the Scottish Government some three weeks ago now.

"The Scottish Government didn't indicate to the UK government there was a problem. We only heard about this last week and we did everything we possibly could to try and find a way through.

"In fact, I was standing outside a Spar in the rain on a call with the Deputy First Minister [Kate Forbes] on Thursday at the by-election in Hamilton last week trying to get together, and the conclusion of that was they put a working group together, knowing the company was going to announce the redundancies on Monday. They delayed that 48 hours to allow for other discussions to happen.

“But look, we just need to leave no stone unturned to get a solution to this, because you can't have a situation where Scotland's indigenous bus company is going to go to the wall, but the Scottish Government aren't ordering enough buses from them, but the mayor of Manchester is.

"That's completely inequitable, so we have to find a way through that."

Labour has accused Holyrood ministers of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China, while pointing to the order from Alexander Dennis of around 160 vehicles by the publicly-owned network in Greater Manchester.

The claim stems from the second phase of the Scottish Government’s green bus initiative ScotZEB, which ordered 44 buses from Alexander Dennis. However, according to a press release from the time, 137 buses were ordered from the firm in the first phase, amounting to a total of 181.

In Scotland, public service buses are procured by private operators, who then run them on routes across the country.

First Minister John Swinney previously said state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevent the Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis.

He said the Scottish Government would do “everything we can” to support jobs. The possibility of a furlough scheme for staff impacted by the announcement is on the table, he confirmed.

But Mr Murray said: "They have to look themselves in the mirror. But they should be leaving no stone unturned about how we can keep this bus company open."

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “The absolute focus right now is on supporting Alexander Dennis Ltd its workforce, as well as the families and communities they support. We also recognise the significance of the company within the local economy and across the wider supply chain.

“The Scottish Government has committed to exploring all viable options throughout the consultation period to allow the firm to retain their hard-working employees and manufacturing and production facilities at Falkirk and Larbert.

“We will continue to work in close collaboration with the company, trade unions, Scottish Enterprise, Transport Scotland and the UK Government.”