Anas Sarwar pledges to back local businesses as First Minister as bus firm set to leave Scotland
SUNDAY MAIL EXCLUSIVE: The Scottish Labour leader will join mayors of some of the UK's biggest cities to try and create a contracts pipeline for domestic firms.
ANAS Sarwar has pledged to prioritise local companies if he becomes First Minister in the wake of the collapse of a Scottish bus firm.
The Scottish Labour leader is planning a major transport summit with some of the UK's mayoral heavyweights to discuss how to protect domestic manufacturers.
It comes after Larbert bus firm Alexander Dennis announced last week it was putting 400 jobs at risk and is preparing to move its operations to one site in England.
Sarwar accused the Scottish Government of failing to invest in Scottish firms and opting instead to buy from overseas companies in places like China, Turkey and Poland.
This summer he is planning a major meeting with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham and the mayors of West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North East England to discuss how to give firms like Alexander Dennis greater stability.
The First Minister will also be invited.
Sarwar said: 'I won't sit back while jobs are under threat at Alexander Dennis in Larbert.
'I've called this summit to look at how we secure more work for domestic manufacturers but I also want to learn from Mayors like Andy Burnham who has already ensured that contracts go to Scottish and British firms.
'It's frankly a scandal that the Mayor of Greater Manchester has managed to buy almost four times as many buses from Scotland as the SNP Scottish Government.
'A future Scottish Labour Government will make sure that Scottish workers are put first.
'While the SNP fail Scottish manufacturing, Scottish Labour will stand up for workers and businesses here.'
Alexander Dennis previously said it was considering moving manufacturing to a site in Scarborough and stop work at its Falkirk site.
Operations at its second Scottish base in Larbert would also be closed after current contracts are finished.
Paul Davies, the company's president, said the firm was facing strong competition from Chinese electric bus makers and said current UK policies didn't incentivise firms to provide local jobs.
A consultation is now being launched which puts up to 400 jobs at risk of redundancy - 22 per cent of the company's 1850-strong workforce.
Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said he had invested in 160 buses from the firm for his city's Bee Network public transport system - almost four times the number of vehicles bought by the Scottish Government, according to Alexander Dennis.
He said: 'I'm proud that Greater Manchester has invested in Scottish and British manufacturing as we've built the Bee Network.
'The workforce at Alexander Dennis in Larbert are outstanding and the buses they've built for our city-region are the core of the Bee Network.
'Following the Chancellor's Spending Review, we now have an opportunity, as mayors, to maximise the funding we've secured and create a pipeline of work for companies here.
'This summit convened by Anas Sarwar is a key opportunity for mayors and Scottish Labour to work together, looking at how we can all provide greater certainty for our domestic manufacturers and workers like those at Alexander Dennis.'
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Liverpool mayor Steve Rotherham recently ordered 58 electric vehicles from Alexander Dennis while South Yorkshire's Mayor, Oliver Coppard, Mayor of North East England, Kim McGuinness and West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin are set to buy hundreds of buses in the coming years after a cash boost from the Treasury.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £15.6bn of transport funding for mayoral authorities in last week's Spending Review, with around £1.5bn expected for the Scottish Government.
Sarwar hopes the funds can be used to benefit domestic firms and the UK economy by creating a coordinated stream of contracts from some of the biggest cities rather than having contracts go overseas.
North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said: 'I have pledged to make the North East bus fleet fully electric as soon as possible as part of my plans to bring buses back under public control.
'I would love to buy buses from Scottish and UK-based manufacturers. It makes no sense to have to go abroad for green technology when we already have the skills and capacity just over the border in Scotland.'
Rotherham said Sarwar's summit was 'the kind of united, people-powered leadership needed to safeguard jobs at Alexander Dennis'.
He said: 'This gives us the chance to pool our buying power, create a clear pipeline of work for an outstanding Scottish workforce and their supply chains, and underpin greener, more affordable transport networks that communities can rely on.'
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