A specialist welding facility to support shipbuilding looks set to go ahead after the UK government announced an additional £22.5m of funding. The £11 million initiative, led by Rolls Royce, aims to fund the construction and maintenance of Royal Navy submarines. Plans for the facility were in doubt earlier this year when it became clear that funding from Scottish Enterprise would not be available as a result of the SNP's ban on funding companies involved in munitions. At the time, Labour accused the SNP of "student union politics," but First Minister John Swinney has since announced that the long-standing policy would be scrapped.
Rolls Royce will operate the new welding centre at Old Kirkpatrick, near the Erskine Bridge, in collaboration with Strathclyde University and marine engineering company Malin, which is helping to build a new Scottish Marine Technology Park. At Labour's conference, Defence Secretary John Healey will announce that the UK government will now provide £2.5 million towards the project, a sum that backers had hoped Scottish Enterprise, Scotland's economic development agency, would provide.
"Where the SNP will not support Scottish industry, young people, or national security, Labour will step in," Healey said. "Labour is making Scotland a shipbuilding superpower once more with our record defence investment and historic export agreements. We'll provide good, well-paid jobs and opportunities throughout the Clyde, Rosyth, Methil, and other areas."
Naval shipbuilding in Scotland is currently experiencing a revival, with the announcement last month of a £10 billion export order for BAE Systems in Glasgow to produce Type 26 frigates for the Norwegian Navy. Babcock is also secure in the east of the region, having secured export orders for Type 31 frigates being built at Rosyth.
The threat to the planned specialist welding centre, first reported by The Times newspaper in May, triggered a political controversy and challenged the SNP's long-standing policy of not providing subsidies for manufacturers involved in munitions. Healey, appearing on BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show at the time, said the SNP was participating in "student union politics" that could stifle innovation and deny opportunities to young people. Mairi Gougeon of the Scottish government retaliated, saying that unlike the UK government, "we have principles and stick to them." However, four months later, First Minister John Swinney declared that the policy on munitions had been updated in light of the "changed international landscape," with the exception of companies that sold arms to Israel.
New Policy
Scottish Enterprise said it had not received a formal request for funding but did have informal discussions with Malin about the proposals. At the time, Scottish government policy did not endorse the manufacture of munitions, and Malin was warned that any funding could only be considered if it was in accordance with government policy.
"We continue to collaborate with the Scottish government as we implement the new strategy," a Scottish Enterprise spokesperson said.
The Scottish government reported that it had provided over £90 million in support to companies operating in the aerospace, defence, and shipbuilding industries since 2006/07. A spokesperson said, "We continue to support the defence sector, particularly in terms of workforce growth, which is vital to our national security and a strategic driver for Scotland's economy."
