Less than third of electric buses funded by SNP scheme built in Scotland as 400 workers lose jobs
Less than a third of buses funded by an SNP Government scheme were built in Scotland.
Only 162 of the 523 - 31 per cent - vehicles ordered under the Scottish Zero Emission Bus challenge fund were made in the country.
Some 361 were made outside of Scotland, with 287 - 55 per cent - made in China. This is higher than the 183 made in the whole of the UK.
Alexander Dennis, which is in the process of closing its factories in Falkirk and centralising down south, received orders for 153 buses (29 per cent).
Labour's Falkirk MP Euan Stainbank said: 'The SNP talks a lot about a green industrial revolution, but when it comes to backing Scottish jobs, their recent record tells a different story.
"We've got world-class engineers building zero-emission buses right here in Falkirk—but instead of supporting them, this government is sending public money and opportunity overseas.
"Nearly three-quarters of the buses in these schemes weren't built in Scotland. That's an insult to the workers at Alexander Dennis and to everyone fighting to keep heavy industry alive in our communities.'
Bosses at Alexander Dennis launched a consultation last month on plans to shutter the plants at Camelon and Larbert and centralise production in Scarborough.
The move would end a century of bus building in the Falkirk district and comes just weeks after the oil refinery at nearby Grangemouth was shut down, with 400 jobs lost.
Stainbank continued: 'This is about more than just numbers. Every bus built in Falkirk supports skilled manufacturing jobs, apprenticeships, and local supply chains.
" Alexander Dennis, one of the last remaining heavy manufacturers in the region, recently entered a consultation affecting 400 jobs. The firm has repeatedly warned of the risks posed by an uneven playing field in procurement policy, concerns that I have raised persistently in my role as Co-Chair of the British Buses APPG
'We cannot continue with ministers leaving Scottish taxpayers are footing the bill to support overseas industry, while those same taxpayers here are facing redundancy. It's time for a serious shift in approach.'
Glasgow Labour MSP Paul Sweeney - who obtained the figures through a written question - said: 'The numbers speak for themselves. Of the 523 electric buses funded through the Scottish Government subsidy scheme, more than two thirds, 340 buses, have been manufactured overseas, with 287 made in China by Yutong, while only 162 buses have been manufactured in Scotland by ADL and EVM.
'What is particularly concerning is that the Scottish Government does not even collect data on where the buses are manufactured. It is clear that the Scottish Government's social value weighting in public procurement is not fit for purpose, and it needs to be bolstered to support critical manufacturers in Scotland rather than subsidising foreign competitors trying to put hundreds of skilled Scottish workers out of a job."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'We are 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.
'Since 2020, ADL secured orders for more zero emission buses than any other single manufacturer through the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund and its predecessor the Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme.
" ADL has received £58 million of Scottish Government subsidy for vehicles under these programmes. ADL have secured orders for more than 360 vehicles through Scottish Government zero emission bus funding programmes, compared to the 160 currently on order from Manchester.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
32 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EUAN McCOLM: Streeting's taken the gloves off over analogue John's neglect of Scots NHS - and the SNP don't like it up 'em, not one bit
For years, the SNP 's failures in government were shielded by the prospect of a second independence referendum. Any and all inadequacies were ignored or excused by the party's supporters so long as Indyref 2 appeared to be within reach. This willingness to put The Project before the SNP's performance allowed the party to record a string of election victories despite its catalogue of catastrophe. Falling standards in schools, terrifyingly high drug death numbers, the ongoing ferries scandal… all of these, and more, failed to shake the SNP's popularity during years when former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was promising independence supporters a second referendum was just one last heave away. These days, nobody thinks a sequel to 2014's vote is anywhere close to being imminent. The legal position - that the power to stage a constitutional referendum lies with the UK Government - is settled. And, anyway, the last thing First Minister John Swinney wants, right now, is another grinding referendum campaign. The SNP is tired and fractured. Mr Swinney's focus is on trying to shore up support before next May's Holyrood election. For a long time, it was understood within SNP circles that to criticise a political decision was to undermine the independence movement. Anyone daring to express disquiet over a policy was urged to 'Wheesht for Indy'. The main thing was to win independence then begin building a beautiful new nation. And if there were downsides, winning the prize was worth any amount of pain. There is nobody more cynical than the idealist, is there? Now, the SNP can no longer use the prospect of another referendum to deflect criticism. When John Swinney's opponents point to the things his government has got so badly wrong, he cannot - as Nicola Sturgeon so often did - dangle the shiny bauble of Indyref 2 in front of supporters. It is customary for SNP health secretaries, when confronted with the failings of the NHS in Scotland, to point to greater problems in England. What poverty of ambition in the wail: 'At least we're not as bad as them.' In fact, it is that bad. There are areas where NHS Scotland outperforms - or, more accurately, doesn't underperform as badly as - the service in England but there are others where it lags behind. Anyway, comparisons with the NHS in England should be regarded as an irrelevance. Health is a fully devolved matter, the Scottish Government has the power to raise taxes and invest further in the service, should it choose to do so. The SNP - and the SNP, alone - is responsible for the parlous state of NHS Scotland. This is a truth the UK's Labour Health Secretary Wes Streeting decided, this week, to highlight. During an interview about an improved App for NHS patients in England and Wales, Mr Streeting pointed out that a promised NHS Scotland App is still years from launch. John Swinney was 'an analogue politician in a digital age', a smart line that pithily summed up the situation while also serving as a neat critique of the SNP's stewardship of the NHS since the party came to power at Holyrood in 2007. Twenty years ago, Scotland's health service was undergoing a major process of reform under the guidance of internationally renowned oncologist and academic Professor David Kerr, who created a blueprint for a more efficient and effective NHS. Professor Kerr began his work under a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition at Holyrood but the SNP was quite happy with his ideas, which included the creation of centres of excellence for certain life saving procedures and the closure of failing facilities. While Professor's Kerr's reforms were being put in place, the SNP spent a great deal of time and effort positioning itself as the natural guardian of the NHS. In 2004, private polling commissioned by the SNP found that when the party attacked Labour over the NHS, Labour supporters took it personally. So emotionally connected were many voters to the NHS that to suggest the party they backed had neglected the health service was to accuse them of personally failing it. The SNP adopted a new approach. Then health spokesperson Nicola Sturgeon spoke about what her party would do with the NHS rather than about Labour's failures. Ms Sturgeon gave a series of impressive speeches in the years between 2004-07 in which she made a persuasive case for the SNP as natural heirs to the NHS. In opposition the SNP carefully nurtured and grew the idea that only it could be trusted to look after the NHS. In power, the party has neglected it. Beyond the extension of the provision of free prescriptions to include the wealthy and the gift of a 'baby box' to new parents, the nationalists have done next to nothing to address the health needs of an ever-growing elderly population and the demands of an NHS already failing to keep up with innovation. Inaction is not passive. There are real consequences to the SNP's failure to address the needs of the health service. Waiting time guarantees are so often broken as to be meaningless and stories of desperately ill patients forced to wait on trolleys in corridors while medics struggle to deal with intolerable workloads are routine. So Wes Streeting was quite right, this week, to take the gloves off and start throwing punches. More commonly, minister-on-minister attacks emanate from Edinburgh. The SNP is never more alive than when it is pointing out the stupidity and moral vacuity of the Unionist foe. And it is never more brittle than when a nerve is struck. They don't like it up 'em. Not one bit. The new NHS App stands to make life considerably easier for patients in England and Wales and it is certainly true that Scotland should not be lagging behind. But the SNP's failure when it comes to NHS runs far deeper and wider. While ministers preened and blustered about a second independence referendum, they neglected the health service. In election campaign after election campaign, they promised waiting and treatment targets that could, and would, never be met. And when these failures caught up with ministers, they created a new law, guaranteeing targets would be met (Laughably, no sanction was written into this law so it may be broken with impunity. Which, given the current state of the NHS, is just as well). Over the past 18 years, the SNP has brought Scotland's NHS to its knees. Wes Streeting's criticisms were entirely justified. But pointing out problems is not enough. If Scottish Labour is to win back voters' trust over the NHS, it will have to start - just as the SNP did two decades ago - telling a positive story of what it would do differently.
STV News
an hour ago
- STV News
Billionaire donates 16 Scottish paintings in memory of late husband
An Indian billionaire has donated 16 paintings from some of Scotland's most significant historical artists to Renfrewshire's civic collection, in memory of her late husband. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw made the donation as a tribute to her husband John Shaw, who was an enthusiastic collector of Scottish art. Mrs Mazumdar-Shaw is the founder and chairwoman of Biocon Ltd, which describes itself as India's largest biopharmaceutical company. Mr Shaw, who died in 2022 after a short illness, was born in Glasgow and forged an international career with thread company Coats Viyella. Mrs Mazumdar-Shaw said: 'John was a proud Scot and his career at Coats was foundational in shaping his life.'She added: 'Wherever in the world he went, his collection of Scottish art allowed him to carry a part of his homeland with him. 'I hope these works will now bring that same sense of connection and inspiration to those who visit the Paisley Museum.' The collection includes paintings by portrait artist Henry Raeburn and James Paterson, one of the 'Glasgow Boys', who came to prominence at the end of the 1800s. Most works are from the 1800s, though the collection spans from the 1700s to the late 20th Century. PA Media John Shaw, art collector and businessman who died in 2022. PA Media Paisley Museum is currently undergoing a multi-million-pound restoration and the artworks are intended to go on display in its 'secret collection' at a storefront on the high street. Councillor Lisa-Marie Hughes, Renfrewshire Council's spokesperson on culture, said: 'We are incredibly grateful to Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw for this generous donation. 'John Shaw was part of Paisley's past industrial success, and now he will be very much embedded in its future cultural regeneration. 'We're sure that our magnificent museum will be something of which he and his family can be truly proud and we're delighted to be able to associate ourselves with the Mazumdar-Shaw family.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Fujitsu getting away ‘scot-free' from Horizon scandal, says postmaster
Rab Thomson welcomed the first tranche of Sir Wyn Williams' final report, which was released in London on Tuesday. Mr Thomson spent around 20 years fighting to clear his name after being accused of theft. The 65-year-old, from Alva in Clackmannanshire, was one of the first to have his conviction overturned and was able to do so in advance of a special law being passed at the Scottish Parliament to exonerate Horizon victims. Mr Thomson's mother had worked at the Post Office for 30 years and the accusation of theft against him came a few years after he took over the business. Wyn Williams' report was released on Tuesday (PA) He told the PA news agency: 'I feel quite emotional.. 'There's other stories in there worse than mine, don't get me wrong, but it's heartbreaking for it to come to this length – it's going to drag on to March next year.' He said he had been particularly emotional about the part of the report relating to himself and his mother. Mr Thomson said he and his mother did not speak for a year after the allegation of theft was made against him. He said his mother kept herself in her house following the allegation up until her death, saying: 'People were talking behind her back – 'her son stole from the Post Office'. 'But none of the people that accused me of stealing, some of them have not even come forward and apologised. 'So I don't know how they're feeling, maybe guilt I don't know.' Mr Thomson added: 'If I can get a victory over this, compensation-wise for people out there who haven't had a penny yet and get them as much as we possibly can, then hopefully my mum's up there and she'll be smiling on me.' He welcomed the report but had one caveat, saying: 'The only problem I see is, I don't know why we're not taking on Fujitsu? 'Why is Sir Wynn not taking on Fujitsu? Because at the end of the day it's them that's brought this crisis to us – at the moment they've got away scot-free.' In April, Mr Thomson and others launched the Scottish Postmasters for Justice and Redress (SPJR) group. He has encouraged other Scots affected by the issue to seek redress. Fujitsu has already acknowledged it has a 'moral obligation' to contribute to compensation for those affected by the scandal, pending the outcome of Sir Wyn Williams' inquiry. Commenting on the report, SNP MP Chris Law said: 'Westminster is still dragging its heels in delivering fair compensation and it is essential that the Labour government immediately removes every bureaucratic barrier and blockade so that these victims finally get the justice they so badly need. 'The starkness of this report lays bare the tragedies, and even the loss of life, that came about as a direct result of this scandal. 'After decades of failures and cover-ups by successive Westminster governments, Fujitsu and the Post Office, hundreds of people who worked hard for local communities have been made to fight far too long for justice – there must be no more delays from this UK Labour government.'
