To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported claim by Alexander Dennis Limited that zero-emission bus funding has disproportionately benefitted competitors from lower-cost and lower-security economies, citing this as the reason for it starting a consultation regarding a potential 160 redundancies at the business, whether it will revise its social value conditions on public funds being used to subsidise foreign bus manufacturers.
The aim of the most recent phase of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB 2) is to support the implementation of new, innovative business models into Scotland's bus market, so that zero-emission buses become the default choice for operators, and that public subsidy is no longer required. Bus operating companies have the freedom to choose which manufacturers to purchase buses from, as best suit the needs of their routes and operations. Fair Work sits at the heart of our ambition to move toward a wellbeing economy and is central to supporting economic recovery and renewal, and a just transition to net-zero. UK based employees working on delivering the ScotZEB 2 project must be paid at least the Real Living Wage, and have an effective forum for employees’ voices. Suppliers from different countries will operate within different economic, social and legal contexts. The real Living Wage is UK-specific and cannot be applied to workers based in foreign countries. Scottish Ministers are required to comply with the terms of the Subsidy Control Act which prohibits the favouring of domestic over non-domestic manufacturers when offering public subsidy.
Since 2020 the Scottish Government has made available more than £23 million in R&D grant funding to Alexander Dennis Ltd to support the company’s capacity to secure orders for ultra low emission and zero emission buses.