Dundee’s Labour group has called for Dundee City Council to “take decisive action” to ensure the city gains its share of an estimated £40 billion worth of engineering work.
Labour leader Kevin Keenan has written to administration chief executive David Martin to express his desire for the council to adopt a proactive approach in securing North Sea decommissioning contracts.
Mr Keenan believes Dundee has been “let down badly” by the Scottish Government over what he feels is a broken promise by former First Minister Alex Salmond to deliver “much-needed” jobs to the city.
The local representative has also called for a speculative office building to be built to allow for more call centre and civil service jobs to be created.
Mr Keenan said: “On behalf of the Labour Group I have written to both the chief executive and the head of democratic and legal services seeking their assistance on how Dundee can deliver much-needed jobs.
“To that end, I have put forward a proposal and look for their guidance to develop this proposal further.
“I don’t suppose I need to explain the particularly bad summer Dundee has had in relation to the number of job losses as I am sure everyone will be well aware of them.
“Everyone will also be well aware of the previous First Minister’s commitment to the city by way of a memorandum of understanding that gave a commitment to bring jobs to our city.
“I personally feel that Dundee has been let down badly by this commitment not being fulfilled.”
Mr Keenan believes the redundant engineering staff from the city’s PressureFab and Galloway firms would be well placed to take on decommissioning work.
He said: “I know we continue to have discussions with the Scottish Government, but it would be very useful to have the Scottish Government’s firm commitment to deliver their future civil service jobs and give a meaningful commitment to bring North Sea decommissioning work to our city.
“This proposal for office accommodation would also be useful for oil decommissioning as a large proportion of the employees required for de-commissioning will be office based — engineering, planning, risk assessing, environmental protection and health and safety.
“Dundee is crying out for jobs and we need to come up with a solution for Dundee.”
Responding to the assertions, SNP finance spokesman Willie Sawers said the council is already in discussions with the Scottish Government to secure work.
He said: “We are working hard with figures in the industry to progress this.
“It isn’t something which can happen overnight, but we are working very hard to achieve this aim.
“Office accommodation is already in the plans for the overall Waterfront development.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the opportunities from decommissioning and are committed to investing in the necessary infrastructure support so that decommissioning work remains in Scotland.
“Our Oil and Gas Strategy sets out how Scotland can play a leading role in the development of a global decommissioning market, while at the same time recognising that all efforts must be taken to avoid a premature end to production in the North Sea.”
