The Grangemouth refinery, Scotland's last remaining oil refinery, has officially ceased processing crude oil, marking the end of an era for the industrial site that has been operational since 1924. Petroineos, the owner of the refinery, confirmed the transition to an import terminal for finished fuels, a move announced in September last year with operations expected to cease by 2025. The company has invested £50 million in transforming the site into a modern import and distribution terminal, ensuring the continued supply of transport fuels to Scotland.

The closure of the refinery has raised concerns over employment in the Grangemouth area, with hundreds of workers accepting voluntary redundancy and others facing compulsory job losses. Discussions between Petroineos and the governments in Edinburgh and London have focused on the future of the site, including potential investments in low-carbon energy projects. However, the transition has been met with criticism, with some describing it as 'industrial vandalism' and calling for more support for the affected workforce.

Petroineos has defended its decision, citing the refinery's daily losses of £380,000 and the unsustainable nature of its operations. The company has also dismissed suggestions that the site could easily transition into a hub for sustainable aviation fuel production. Despite the challenges, Petroineos has praised the resilience and professionalism of its workforce during the transition period, ensuring the security of fuel supply across Scotland.

The UK Government has pledged £200 million to support the Grangemouth area, with hopes of attracting additional private investment. However, calls have been made for greater transparency and urgency in deploying these funds, particularly in light of the Acorn Carbon Capture project's delayed progress. As Grangemouth embarks on its new chapter as an import terminal, the focus remains on securing a sustainable future for the site and its surrounding community.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has announced an urgent independent inquiry into maternity services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, describing himself as "shocked" by families' experiences of "repeated maternity failures in Leeds - made worse by the unacceptable response of the trust." The decision comes after years of campaigning by bereaved families who reported feeling "gaslit, dismissed and even blamed" for what went wrong at one of Europe's largest teaching hospitals. Mr. Streeting emphasized the "stark contradiction between scale and safety standards" at the trust, which official data shows "remains an outlier on perinatal mortality."

The inquiry follows a June downgrade by the Care Quality Commission, which rated maternity services at the trust as "inadequate" and identified serious risks to women and babies. Inspectors highlighted a deep-rooted "blame culture" that made staff reluctant to raise concerns about incidents. Brendan Brown, chief executive of LTH NHS Trust, apologized to bereaved families and expressed hope that the inquiry would provide them with "answers." He stated the trust is "determined to do better" and is already taking significant steps to improve maternity and neonatal services following reviews by regulatory bodies.

Families affected by the failures have welcomed the inquiry but are calling for rigorous leadership, specifically requesting that midwife Donna Ockenden chair the investigation. Fiona Winser-Ramm, whose daughter Aliona died in 2020 after an inquest found multiple failures, emphasized the importance of ensuring the inquiry is "the best and most thorough that it can possibly be." She described how families have been "thrust into this life that none of us should be living," noting that their shared grief should never have brought them together under such circumstances.

Serious questions are now being raised about what Sir Julian Hartley, who led the trust for ten years until 2023 and now heads the Care Quality Commission, knew about the poor maternity care. In a statement, Sir Julian expressed being "truly sorry" for families' suffering and said that while he was "absolutely committed to ensuring good patient care across all services, including maternity," this commitment "wasn't enough to prevent some families suffering pain and loss." Lauren Caulfield, whose daughter Grace died in 2022, called it "completely unacceptable that nothing has been done to date" to examine Sir Julian's role, expressing hope that the inquiry will address this gap.