WATCH: Claims minister 'brushing off' BiFab job concerns

Alister Jack has been accused of "brushing away" concerns over jobs at the BiFab yards in Fife.

The Scottish Secretary told MPs the UK must be "better" at pricing and producing turbines, after being questioned about turbines being shipped to Scotland from Indonesia.

Mr Jack also admitted he does not know how many jobs had been created at the site after EDF Renewables announced BiFab would build turbine jacket structures for its £2billion Neart Na Gaoithe offshore wind farm.

Shadow Scotland secretary Tony Lloyd had said: "(Mr Jack) will recall that when EDF were given the licence to develop the wind farm in the Neart Na Gaoithe 10 miles off the Fife coast, the commitment was that they would be creating 1,000 jobs making the jackets for those wind turbines.

"Can the secretary of state tell the House how many jobs have been created?"

Mr Jack responded: "No, because I don't know the answer.

"That's a perfectly straight answer to a straight question but what I can tell you is the sector deal aims to create 27,000 jobs by 2030, that's what the sector deal states."

The Labour frontbencher replied: "I'll tell (Mr Jack) - 1,000 in Indonesia. Now can (Mr Jack) tell the House if the GMB union is right in saying that the transportation of these wind turbines from Indonesia to the Fife coast will be the equivalent to 35 million cars on the road, how does that fit our commitment to greening this economy?

"But what confidence can people have in Scotland that jobs in a wind farm 10 miles off the Fife coast will be created for people in Scotland, not people in Indonesia?"

Mr Jack said: "Well that is the market economy and we need to be better at pricing and better at producing our turbines and that's the straight answer.

"These and many other issues we'll discuss when we bring (climate conference) COP26 to Glasgow later this year.

"I don't dispute with him (Mr Lloyd) bringing wind turbines from Indonesia is not the answer, we need to find a better way of efficiently delivering them in the UK."

STUC general secretary Grahame Smith said it was "callous and stupid" to brush away the concerns of workers and local communities.

He said: "Offshore wind is subsidised by Scottish energy users through their fuel bills, even as hundreds of thousand live in fuel poverty.

"Meanwhile workers in Scotland's fabrication yards are losing out on work that is being shipped from tax-free zones in Indonesia.

"It is both callous and stupid to brush away concerns from workers and local communities with a blase reference to the market economy. Markets don't just happen, they are created and regulated by Government and they need Government intervention to function effectively.

"Alister is a long way off message. At a recent offshore wind summit organised by the Scottish Government, Westminster officials claimed to be committed to creating more work in local supply chains through 'contracts for difference'.

"I suspect that more than a few of Alister's colleagues will be less than happy with his response and the STUC will seek urgent clarification as to whether his indifference to local jobs and a just transition to a low-carbon economy is a personal view or that of the UK Government."

A spokeswoman for the UK Government said: "The secretary of state made clear that the UK Government is wholly committed to supporting Scotland's renewables sector, and that importing turbines from Indonesia is not an acceptable long-term solution. To suggest that he dismissed concerns is simply misleading."