Eighteen months after the UK Government pledged £200 million from the National Wealth Fund to Grangemouth, not a penny has reached the former refinery site — and local MSPs say their letters asking why have gone unanswered.

Falkirk East and Linlithgow MSP Martyn Day, whose constituency includes Grangemouth, wrote to Prime Minister Andy Burnham at the start of August on behalf of a group of SNP MSPs. He received no reply. He followed up in September with a letter to the Labour Party's Minister for Reindustrialisation, Blair McDougall. Again, no response.

The funding commitment dates to February last year, when the UK Government announced the £200 million National Wealth Fund allocation for the site. The government has since admitted that none of the money has been spent.

Day said the Prime Minister had "gone into hiding on the issue".

What did Martyn Day say?

In a direct critique of the government's handling of the closure and its aftermath, Day said:

"The Labour Party promised it would save Grangemouth but instead stood aside and let the refinery die and we are seeing the disastrous results right now with hundreds of jobs lost and diesel prices reaching record levels."

"Labour then promised it would deliver £200 million in support for the area but 18 months on and still not a penny has been delivered. We have repeatedly raised this with the UK Labour Government but they haven't even had the good grace to reply."

He added: "Grangemouth needs the money it was promised, and it needs it right now."

Day also accused the government of asymmetry in industrial support, saying: "The Labour Party couldn't get the chequebook out quick enough when it came to bailing out similar industrial sites in England."

What is the operational picture at Grangemouth?

The Grangemouth refinery stopped refining oil last year and converted to an imports-only terminal. Around 400 workers lost their jobs at the site when refining ceased.

The pressure on the local industrial cluster has intensified. Syngenta announced plans last week to cease operations at its Grangemouth plant, putting nearly 400 further jobs under threat.

How has the UK Government responded?

A UK Government spokesperson defended the government's position, framing the unspent £200 million as readiness rather than delay:

"The Prime Minister has been clear that he will reindustrialise Britain, and we are taking action to secure the long-term future of the Grangemouth industrial cluster. That is why the National Wealth Fund stands ready to invest £200 million alongside £14.5 million grant funding from last year's Budget, which is already being delivered."

The spokesperson's statement confirms two funding streams:

• £200 million from the National Wealth Fund — committed, unspent, and described as "ready to invest"
• £14.5 million in grant funding from last year's Budget — described as already being delivered

Where is the replacement investment coming from?

While the National Wealth Fund money sits undeployed, one reindustrialisation project has secured capital from a different source. MiAlgae, a biotech company making fish-free omega-3 supplements from by-products of whisky production, has received a £2.5 million investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank.

MiAlgae broke ground on its commercial-scale manufacturing facility in December 2025 — the first project on the former refinery site, announced after the refinery's closure in April 2025. The company said on Tuesday that the £2.5 million will help it scale commercial production and bring new employment to the Grangemouth community.

MiAlgae forecasts growth from 60 employees to about 156 by the end of 2028 — roughly a quarter of the refinery jobs lost, phased over three years.

Jane Reoch, executive director of innovation at the Scottish National Investment Bank, called MiAlgae "one of Scotland's most promising biotech companies".

"It has stellar innovation credentials and true scale-up potential, all while reducing any negative impact on our oceans and contributing to our circular economy," Reoch said. She added that the investment supports the bank's missions of innovation, net zero and thriving communities, and that "MiAlgae's growing presence and creation of high-quality jobs at Grangemouth contributes to the area's industrial economy."

The Scottish National Investment Bank is wholly owned by Scottish ministers but operates independently of government, investing for commercial returns alongside societal benefits.

What is the watch item?

The gap between commitment and disbursement at Grangemouth remains the story. The £200 million National Wealth Fund allocation is sanctioned in name but undeployed in practice, and the government has set no disclosed timeline for first spend. Watch for the pace of that deployment against the Syngenta consultation timeline, the MiAlgae scale-up toward its 156-worker target by end-2028, and any reply — parliamentary or postal — to the MSPs' two unanswered letters.