John Swinney pledges to do 'everything we can' to save jobs at Alexander Dennis
More than a century of bus manufacture in Falkirk could soon come to an end with cheap imports from China blamed.
John Swinney has pledged his Government will do "everything we can" to save jobs at an historic Scots bus manufacturers.
Alexander Dennis announced yesterday it planned to centralise its operations in England by closing its two factories in Falkirk, with 400 staff at risk of redundancy.
Such a move would bring to an end more than a century of bus building in the area after the firm's owners blamed competition from China for making it uncompetitive.
The announcement is a fresh blow for the Falkirk district after the recent closure of the refinery in nearby Grangemouth last month.
The First Minister told MSPs today: "This issue has been occupying a great deal of the focus and the attention of the Deputy First Minister and I, and the UK Government, since we became aware of the situation over the last few weeks.
But Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused the SNP Government of overlooking Scottish industry in favour of ordering buses from China.
He pointed to the success of the local bus network in Greater Manchester, which runs a fleet of 160 new vehicles all built in Falkirk.
Andy Burnham, the English city's mayor, said the buses were "a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester".
Almost all bus services in Scotland are run by private operators who are free to order buses from any manufacturer they choose.
Swinney insisted state aid regulations – in the form of the UK-wide Subsidy Control Act – prevented the UK Government from directly procuring from a single supplier like Alexander Dennis.
He quoted a joint letter from the UK and Scottish governments, which pledged to 'work closely with Alexander Dennis at this challenging time'.
He added: 'That's us indicating that we're keen to do everything we can to find a way through the Subsidy Control Act provisions, so the Government can continue to operate within the law, which we must do, but also, we can support manufacturing in Scotland, which is my priority.'
Sarwar hit back: "If John Swinney can't figure out a way to order buses in Scotland, I suggest he picks up the phone to (Greater Manchester Mayor) Andy Burnham and see how he managed to do it.
'Almost five times as many bus orders from Manchester.'
Sarwar's 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.
Burnham – who has previously visited the Falkirk site – said: "Our iconic Bee Network buses are a bit of Scotland right here in Greater Manchester.
"We have over 160 Alexander Dennis buses criss-crossing our city-region every day – connecting our communities to opportunity.
"If Greater Manchester can invest in world-class Scottish bus manufacturing, then why can't the SNP Scottish Government?"
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