2 sisters cash spent elsewhere
NIKI TENNANT
Hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money - recouped from the disgraced firm 2 Sisters - will not be reinvested in Cambuslang, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
2 Sisters received £650,000 in grants from Scottish Enterprise on the promise it would keep its chicken plant on Westburn Road open until at least 2020.
But the company announced in April last year that the plant was to close with the loss of 450 jobs.
It wound down operations before finally closing its gates for good in September, bringing to an end its 40-year history in Cambuslang and breaching the terms of the grant payment agreement.
Now the Scottish Government says the money recouped from 2 Sisters will not be reinvested in the town despite repeated calls from list MSP James Kelly.
He and Labour colleague Ged Killen MP last month wrote to Scottish Government finance secretary, Derek Mackay, insisting that the money be reinvested in stimulating the local economy in Cambuslang, which they say has suffered “economic vandalism” as a result of the firm’s broken promise.
They called for “a firm commitment from the Scottish Government that any money that is paid back will be reinvested in the local community.”
James Kelly has now received a response from Jamie Hepburn MSP, minister for business, fair work and skills, saying the money repaid by 2 Sisters has been “recycled to support general government economic activity.”
No plans have been set out to plough the money into Cambuslang.
Condemning the decision, both Kelly and Killen hit out at SNP ministers for failing to stand up for the interests of the town and deliver a fair deal for Cambuslang, despite the first minister previously undertaking to “have discussions with the local community about future investments there.”
James Kelly, who says this means that the money has been lost to Cambuslang, blasted: “This is completely unacceptable. Nicola Sturgeon previously made a commitment to discussions with the local community about how money repaid by 2 Sisters would be invested in Cambuslang.
“The SNP government have sold the people of Cambuslang out. They have treated the Cambuslang community with contempt by refusing to honour a previous commitment to invest this money in Cambuslang.
“The town is in desperate in need of investment. The SNP need to reverse this disgraceful decision.”
Emphasising that public money was given to 2 Sisters on the basis that it was to benefit the factory and the workforce in Cambuslang, Ged Killen added: “2 Sisters has failed to live up to its promises and rightly will have to repay the money. However, that money was to be spent in Cambuslang and the Scottish Government must ensure that it still is.
“Cambuslang workers and residents have been sold out once before by 2 Sisters. It would be extraordinarily disappointing if they were to be sold out again, this time by SNP Ministers.”
Killen insists there are still questions to be answered over the decision of 2 Sisters to close its Cambuslang factory, “despite the clear and substantial support they received from the public purse.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “In the financial year 2017-18, Scottish Enterprise made three regional selective assistance offers to companies in South Lanarkshire totalling £248,000, creating 20 jobs and safeguarding 11 existing jobs.
“Scottish Development International (SDI) is also working to support firms in South Lanarkshire to expand into foreign markets, and in the last financial year supported more than 30 companies to internationalise. SDI has further confirmed a new inward investment into the area that is expected to safeguard 106 jobs. “The Scottish Government has also committed £500m to stimulate economic growth across the Glasgow City Region Deal area, which includes Cambuslang and Lanarkshire.”