Intervention call on BiFab yards

UK ministers should intervene in the BiFab jobs crisis by subsidising projects at the troubled engineering firm, says a union.

The threat of redundancy at the company’s fabrication yards in Fife continues to hang over workers despite new owners coming in.

Gary Smith, from GMB Scotland, called on Scottish Secretary David Mundell, who sits in Theresa May’s cabinet, to consider new renewables subsidies as part of a rescue package.

“The renewables industry depends on subsidies,” said Mr Smith. “We need this to focus on what support we can get for the manufacturing sector for firms like BiFab.”

Mr Smith added they are “disappointed” at the lack of support from Mr Mundell and Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.

BiFab’s yards have been left without work since the conclusion of a contract to build offshore wind turbines.

The search is on for projects, with hopes that BiFab can benefit from the upcoming NNG wind farm off the Fife coast.

A UK Government spokesman said: “We are committed to supporting a thriving renewables sector and are investing more than £2.5 billion in low-carbon innovation by 2021, helping deliver opportunities for companies such as BiFab and others in the supply chain.”

The spokesman added there is up to £557 million of annual support available for innovative offshore wind projects.