Grangemouth freeport update: Project shortlisted by both UK and Scottish governments

Successful bidders will be able to offer tax incentives and lower tariffs.

Forth Ports said the freeport had the potential to create up to 50,000 new, high-quality jobs in renewable energy, manufacturing, sustainable fuels and construction. Its activities will focus on renewables, advanced manufacturing, alternative fuels, carbon capture utilisation and storage, shipbuilding, logistics and the creative industries.

Inverness and the Cromarty Firth are the other winning bid with 25,000 jobs forecast there.

The consortium behind the transformational bid for the FGF, which includes Forth Ports, Ineos and Falkirk Council, reacted to the positive news, announced last Friday.

Charles Hammond, Forth Ports chief executive, said: “This is great news for Scotland, for new green jobs and for the country’s drive to net zero. Together with our consortium partners, our bid will re-industrialise the nation and create large scale economic development.

"Our green freeport will accelerate investment and generate 50,000 new green jobs by acting as a catalyst for new technologies and renewable energy manufacturing. This has the potential to unlock £6 billion of private and public investment for Scotland and create new training facilities, factories, logistics parks, rail, freight and fuel terminals and to enhance our creative industries.

“The benefits of trade will be spread widely into the communities that need it the most, through the establishment of a green growth investment corridor creating tens of thousands of jobs in low carbon logistics, renewable energy, green manufacturing and alternative fuels.

"These new jobs will not just be in Grangemouth, Leith and Rosyth, but in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the Lothians, Stirling and Falkirk, Dunfermline and Burntisland and across the UK.”

It is hoped the proposal will generate a £4 billion boost in GVA (Gross Value Add) to Scotland’s economy.

The bid’s strategically located tax and customs sites span 550 hectares in Grangemouth, Leith, Rosyth, Burntisland and Edinburgh Airport.

Falkirk Council leader Cecil Meiklejohn said: “The Forth Green Freeport bid is underpinned by a set of social values that includes inclusivity, combatting of illicit activity, anti-trafficking and safety and security of both goods and people.

"Falkirk Council is delighted that the Forth Green Freeport Bid has been successful and looks forward to working with the UK and Scottish Governments and other partners to ensure that the Green Freeport brings forward not only inward investment but real benefits for our communities. We are particularly pleased that the Forth Green Freeport Bid commits not only to Net Zero by 2045, but to both fair work principles and a skills fund for the benefit of local people.”

A total of five bids for green freeport status were submitted, with North East Scotland, Orkney and Clyde missing out.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: “This is a milestone achievement in the process to deliver Green Freeports for Scotland. Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and Forth Green Freeport will support businesses to create high-quality, well-paid new jobs, promote growth and regeneration, and make a significant contribution to achieving our net zero ambitions.

“The successful applicants showed a strong determination to embed fair work practices, including payment of the Real Living Wage, and to enshrine net zero initiatives in their work. We look forward to working closely with them to ensure they deliver maximum positive impact and become operational as soon as possible."

Stephen Kerr, Conservative MSP for Central Scotland, said: “The creation of a freeport in the Firth of Forth will bring much welcomed investment into the Falkirk area and create thousands of well-paid jobs. And it all goes to show what can be achieved for the people of Scotland when Scotland’s two governments work together.”

Lynn Harris, Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce president, also welcomed the news, saying: “This is a fantastic result and brilliant news for our region, its economy and our business community.

“This transformational initiative will bring high value jobs to the area and hopefully encourage new companies to set up here. We look forward to witnessing the economic benefits and engaging with a growing number of businesses.”

However, trade union Unite has requested an urgent meeting with the Scottish Government to highlight what officials call “a number of major concerns surrounding the enforcement of employment and collective bargaining rights with 75,000 jobs projected to be created through the two Freeport zones”.

The union is demanding guarantees from the Scottish Government that any economic benefits to employers and supply chains must come with protections for workers. It said freeports must not be able to attack workers’ rights, allow undercutting of conditions or pay, or divide regions or industrial sectors across the country.

The trade union believes that there is currently minimal legal powers for the Scottish Government to enforce the Real Living Wage in the zones or to enable access for trade unions to collectively bargain on behalf of the workers.

Unite Scottish Secretary, Pat Rafferty, said: “It remains absolutely unclear if the Scottish Government’s greenports proposal will be legally binding in Scotland particularly over enforcing the Real Living Wage. We have zero clarity on whether trade unions will be able to access and organise workers operating within the zones, and to bargain with employers over pay, terms and conditions.

“The potential creation of 75,000 jobs at face value appears to be a welcome development but at what cost will this come to workers, local businesses and other communities who could be displaced or badly hit. Instead of the so-called levelling-up mantra we could be levelling the ground and creating an employer free-for-all.”