Alexander Dennis extends deadline to save bus jobs

The bus builder Alexander Dennis (ADL) is to allow more time for efforts to save the jobs of workers in Falkirk and Larbert.

A consultation on its plans to end manufacturing in Scotland, which would result in the loss of 400 jobs, will now run for an extra fortnight.

This means the new deadline is 15 August.

Meanwhile, the Scottish government said officials had met the company to discuss the possibility of a furlough scheme.

Alexander Dennis last month announced plans to stop manufacturing in central Scotland.

Instead it is proposing to centralise bus building in Scarborough.

Trade union Unite had called on the company to extend the mandatory consultation period to allow more time to try to save the Scottish operation.

Derek Thomson, the union's Scottish secretary, welcomed the decision.

He said: "Unite was pushing hard for this extension because it buys more time for proposals to be brought forward which can help secure immediate and long-term orders.

"We continue to work with Alexander Dennis and the Scottish government to explore viable options which can retain the skilled workforce at Falkirk and Larbert, including the use of a time-limited furlough scheme supported by government."

Staff are currently on a two-week annual break linked to the local holiday in Falkirk.

The Scottish government said efforts to try to find a solution would continue.

In a letter to Holyrood's Economy and Fair Work Committee, Finance Secretary Shona Robison mentioned a time-limited furlough scheme.

The aim would be to avoid redundancies before work on new orders begin.

Robison confirmed officials had met ADL to discuss a potential company furlough scheme.

If given the green light it would be the business' offer to its employees to prevent compulsory redundancies among the manufacturing workforce.

The scheme would be administered by the business.

She said: "We are in discussions with ADL on the potential for the government to support the company's scheme for a defined period."

Robison said officials from both the Scottish and UK governments were continuing to meet regularly to discuss the situation.

Last week the firm's managing director, Paul Davies, told a Holyrood committee it would need to win orders for at least 70 new buses this year before it could keep its Scottish sites open.

Mr Davies said the company would then need to win 300 additional orders next year.

But he warned this alone might not be enough to keep the Falkirk and Larbert operations going.

The Scarborough operation has the capacity to produce around 1,200 buses a year.

Mr Davies was asked what it would take to keep production in Scotland.

He told the committee the issue was demand and that the company did not have sufficient volume in the order book to sustain two manufacturing sites in the UK.

He was then asked if the company could give an absolute commitment to keep Falkirk and Larbert open if it secured a sufficient number of new orders.

Mr Davies could not give this and said there were wider implications for the company to consider.

The extension to the consultation period provides a little breathing space and adds to the possibility the jobs will be saved.

But it is far too early for anyone fighting to save the jobs to celebrate.

Any solution will be complex.

It is likely to involve the company, unions and both the Scottish and UK governments.

In particular Alexander Dennis will need to see a pipeline of work big enough to justify both the Scottish and Scarborough operations.

A furlough scheme only becomes a realistic proposition if it might bridge a short gap - perhaps three months - until work on new orders begins.

Any such scheme would not be designed to run indefinitely.