UK ministers accused of creating ‘race to the bottom’ on contracts

The UK Government has been urged to make it easier for companies such as Bifab to secure major renewable energy contracts.

Scotland’s Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said it was wrong Westminster’s Contract for Difference scheme means work is awarded solely on price, without taking into account added value to the economy from the wider supply chain.

Her comments follow anger that a lucrative contract to make jackets for Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm was awarded to a Chinese firm rather than Bifab, which has yards at Methil and Burntisland, just a few miles from the Seagreen site.

Questioned by Kirkcaldy SNP MSP David Torrance, Ms Hyslop said she was extremely disappointed, particularly as the Bifab bid had been as competitive as any other from across the UK and Europe.

She said the Scottish Government, along with Fife Council and Scottish Enterprise, was doing what it could to make the Fife firm more attractive but the ultimate power lay with UK ministers.

“We continue to support plans to modernise and standardise the yard at Methil,” she said.

She pointed out that mechanisms such as the Contract for Difference scheme made it easier for yards in the Middle and Far East with low labour costs to cut prices and win work.

Mr Torrance said the highlyskilled local workforce was distraught over the news.

He accused the UK Government of creating a “race to the bottom that no Scottish or UK yard can win”.