Grangemouth Industrial Just Transition Plan: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

The process for developing the JTP involved a comprehensive approach to engaging a diverse range of stakeholders. It involved one-to-one interviews, workshops, data requests and consultations with industry representatives, trade unions, local communities, charities, environmental groups, and the public to gather insights and feedback. The consultation was promoted by the GFIB, which includes the Federation of Small Businesses. This ensured that small businesses within the area were sighted on the development of the Plan. Businesses in the Grangemouth Industrial Cluster and wider Falkirk area were also identified and approached to submit offline responses/views on the JTP.

This engagement was designed to ensure that the plan addressed various community perspectives and needs, facilitating a balanced approach to transitioning to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. As such the public nature of the consultation to date was also aimed at providing accessible and inclusive opportunities for local business, other organisations (e.g. SMEs), consumers, and residents to respond and provide their views on the proposed delivery of JTP.

Business Engagement

During scoping of this work across early 2022, SG engaged with key businesses across the Grangemouth cluster, to outline early considerations of the JTP, and to seek insight on potential impacts or perspectives from businesses. At this stage it was clear that businesses had a desire to collaborate via participation in the GFIB group, but also had concerns around scope and clarity of responsibility for delivery of the plan.

During early development work, the Scottish Government conducted more extensive and structured engagement with businesses at Grangemouth, focusing on the key industrial operators, but also bridging out to supply chain companies and smaller businesses in the industrial area. This included interviews and data requests for factual information informing the Grangemouth JTP baseline. Further focused workshopping sessions sought to elicit information on views for the future of the cluster from individual organisations, ultimately allowing SG to formulate a collaborative vision of Grangemouth at 2045.

With an outline vision established, further work, with support of consultants, was taken forward to establish critical actions that would support the vision’s realisation.

Through the GFIB group, industry and other stakeholders, were presented with a long list of 40 draft actions, and through further consultation, supported the prioritisation and selection of actions to be included in the draft JTP, published in November 2024.

Finally, industry participated in the public consultation on the draft plan, which further helped to signal industry’s perspective on risks, challenges and opportunities, ultimately informing the final version of the plan.

All businesses and other organisations in Grangemouth and the wider Falkirk area were given the opportunity to respond to the online consultation on the draft JTP.

The JTP outlines a robust monitoring and evaluation framework that embeds a process of continual assessment and reportage every two years. This process will be conducted by GFIB and will require that business representatives on the Board are regularly engaged to ensure that the efficacy of the JTP is appropriately measured.

Internal SG engagement/engagement with wider Public Sector

Internal SG engagement

In drafting the JTP the Scottish Government has consulted the following internal policy teams to support and inform the development of the JTP to understand any alignment or crossover with the following policy areas:

• Workforce and Skills
• Community Wealth Building
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Third Sector Sponsorship
• Land Use and Agriculture
• Low Carbon Transport
• Environment
• Hydrogen
• Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)
• Industrial Decarbonisation
• Just Transition policy
• Net Zero Economy
• Green industrial strategy
• National Strategy for Economic Transformation

Wider Public Sector

The JTP has been developed in consultation with GFIB, which includes among its membership a range of public sector bodies. This includes Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (‘SEPA’), Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Futures Trust, Falkirk Council, the Federation of Small Businesses, and the UK Government. Engagement with these organisations was conducted in the same manner at the business engagement outlined within this BRIA.

Business / Third Sector engagement

Feedback received from businesses during public consultation on the draft JTP was broadly supportive, but also acknowledged ongoing challenges that should be addressed to ensure successful delivery. Most stakeholders agreed with the proposed actions and outcomes outlined in the JTP . Some businesses voiced concerns from the perspective of commercial viability, particularly around the approach to attracting investment and the feasibility of achieving outcomes initially set out within the draft JTP. These actions were subsequently revised to take cognisance of this feedback.

Some specific examples where businesses’ responses to consultation supported and agreed with the JTP includes:

• Businesses broadly agreed that proposed investments would support industry partners in achieving UK and Scottish Government’s Net Zero targets.
• Businesses agreed that industry at Grangemouth can be supported by providing the right regulatory and policy environments, particularly those which encourage the movement towards Net Zero, or low carbon manufacturing (as opposed to banning the current methods). Specifically, one business conveyed that “the importance of taking action to reduce net Scottish emissions of greenhouse gases in a way which… creates decent, fair and high-value work in a way which does not negatively affect the current workforce and overall economy”.
• Businesses agreed that the development and implementation of a plan to deliver better transport in Grangemouth would be an asset to Grangemouth and the Cluster itself. One business highlighted that Grangemouth, being an area of relative poverty, could benefit from improved public transportation.
• Finally, businesses agreed that Grangemouth could play a significant role in safeguarding Scotland’s future energy security, particularly in the local and wider supply chain, if there is opportunity to sustain and expand Net Zero operations. To this end one business expressed that: “The Scottish Government needs to develop a renewables policy which creates domestic employment in supply chain manufacturing and assembly, enhances job quality, and supports workers to transition into these jobs".

Some specific examples where businesses’ responses to the consultation highlighted concerns or addressed actions that could be added to the draft JTP includes:

• Businesses stressed the need for a clear path for sufficient investment to deliver Scottish Government Net Zero targets. In response, the JTP was adjusted to include actions to communicate the value of Grangemouth to investors, which could attract a greater level of investment. For instance, actions including the development of a cohesive Cluster strategy and a government-backed supplier development programme could help to clearly articulate the unique selling point and vision of Grangemouth’s transition to Net Zero to investors. This could improve investors’ confidence and provide businesses with the necessary focus/direction to enhance their market position and to better capitalise on opportunities.
• Some businesses voiced concerns around building trust and engagement with the community. Workers and wider members of the community have expressed feeling disengaged and have lacked active involvement in the transition towards achieving Net Zero. To address this concern, the JTP proposes funded a dedicated Community Engagement and Participation Manager to help ensure that local perspectives consistently inform the decision-making and development of the JTP.

The Scottish Government will continue to regularly convene the GFIB group as actions within the plan are progressed and conduct thorough requests for updated data from key stakeholders to ensure that they are consistently engaged while actions within the JTP are implemented.

Public consultation

A public consultation on the draft JTP was launched on 7 November 2024 and closed on 6 February 2025. A comprehensive approach was taken to engage with a diverse group of individuals, involving one-to-one interviews, workshops, data requests and consultations with industry representatives, trade unions, local communities, charities, environmental groups, and other public members to gather their insights and feedback.

Below provides a summary of some of the responses to the consultation:

• Business respondents recognised the importance of developing a commercial proposition and a green hub at Grangemouth that links the nation’s Net Zero and decarbonisation ambitions. There is a view amongst the businesses that economic activity can be increased through in-migration and in-commuting as well as increasing rates of economic participation by local residents. Specifically, Project Willow is looking at options to deliver a viable long-term future for the refinery site including building Grangemouth’s skilled workforce, local expertise and long heritage as a fuel leader in Scotland.
• An end-to-end approach to lifelong skills development was a topic of importance to respondents, with 62% strongly agreeing with it. The survey data also highlighted respondents’ desire and commitment to learning, training, and retraining opportunities available for the community throughout their lives.
• From the consultation, it was identified that business density is lower in Forth Valley relative to Scotland, indicating the need for more business activity. It was agreed by respondents that investment in research and development could support local competitiveness, boost productivity and increase wages, as well as promoting the region as an attractive place for young professionals and businesses.
• Respondents also stated that the development of green technology (e.g. sustainable aviation fuel, hydrogen, and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage) through the JTP presents international supply chain opportunities in terms of exports. The respondents held the view that Grangemouth could support Scotland in becoming a leader in green energy and decarbonised industrial products, which could position Grangemouth as a destination for global companies, boosting investment and aiding the development of new technologies.
• Similarly, businesses also highlighted the JTP could help secure a domestic supply chain for green technology that could benefit a variety of sectors (e.g. transportation). According to the businesses, this would support the decarbonisation of local manufacturers and energy-intensive industries in the Net Zero transition, with circular economy initiatives also helping to reduce environmental impact by enhancing waste processing in Scotland.
• Businesses responded positively to the strong focus on the community within the JTP, particularly highlighting the local supply chain procurement framework and the proposal to hire a Community Engagement and Participation Manager. Businesses also stated the criticality of including the community (i.e. residents and industry partners) on Grangemouth’s transition to Net Zero through a clear and continuous communication channel. By providing updates on the JTP’s vision, carbon reduction strategies, high skilled job creation initiatives and industries’ environmental actions, the view held is that this would help increase transparency and trust between the industry and the community.

Some specific examples where the responses to this consultation highlighted concerns or provided recommended actions for the JTP are as following:

• Similar to other groups that have been consulted, there were short-term concerns raised with respect to the potential job losses, given the closure of Grangemouth Refinery in Q2 2025 and the absence of how the Draft JTP would look address this.
• There were also questions regarding how the actions in the JTP and the proposed metrics for measuring success and outcomes will be defined, with a particular suggestion from businesses to cover the equality aspects of the outcome within the monitoring indicators of the JTP.

Feedback gathered from businesses during the public consultation was utilised to inform a redrafted version of the JTP, which was published on 18 June 2025. Updates to the JTP included significant revisions to the detail of the baseline, which will provide a clearer benchmark of circumstances at the cluster today. Additionally, we have refined the Vision within the plan to reflect the views and aspirations of businesses – particularly ensuring strategic fit with commercial and technological front runner opportunities for transition.

Most significantly, we have revised the action plan within the JTP, using consultation feedback to prioritise actions, redesign specific activity on the basis of the feedback above to ensure a clearer scope, as well as ownership and delivery timeframe. These changes were further reviewed and agreed to by the GFIB Programme Board and Leadership forum.