A Labour MP has written to Nicola Sturgeon to demand answers over why public cash was awarded to a seafood firm just weeks before it entered administration.
Dawnfresh was allocated a £1 million business grant by the Scottish Government in December last year to help expand its existing base in Arbroath - but the company never took the cash.
The fish processing company was suddenly placed in administration on March 1 - which caused 200 staff to be made redundant at its other factory in Uddingston, North Lanarkshire.
The company had previously announced last year it intended to close the Uddingston plant and was in the process of negotiating redundancy payments for workers.
Those left jobless have since complained they did not receive their last week's wages and are now left waiting for financial support from the Scottish Government.
Ian Murray has now written to the First Minister to ask what guarantees the company made in exchange for public funding last year.
The Shadow Scottish Secretary wants to know if assurances were given to SNP ministers over jobs at the Uddingston site.
In the letter, he said: "The employees at the DawnFresh site in Uddingston were largely paid on a weekly basis, and the staff now face a wait of as long as 12 weeks before they can receive the wages they are owed.
"As you will surely understand, this is having a devastating impact on workers and their families, who may be forced to turn to pay-day loans to put food on the table."
He added: "There are reports of families applying for crisis grants but being rejected because a severely ill family member is in receipt of Personal Independence Payments. I would ask that this matter is investigated urgently, and that crisis support is made available to the two hundred workers.
"In December 2021, just three months before the business entered administration, it received nearly £1m in taxpayers money from the Scottish Marine Fund to develop its Arbroath site.
"It was known at the time Dawnfresh were seeking to close the Uddingston site, but as a result of the company entering administration workers have been left without a redundancy package they were seeking to negotiate.
"What assurances did the Scottish Government seek when this money was awarded to Dawnfresh?
"Were any assurances sought around the workforce, given the company was going through a redundancy process when the money was awarded?"
Jobs at the Dawnfresh factory in Arbroath were saved after it was sold to another firm, Lossie Seafoods.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Dawnfresh were awarded £1,485,616.97 for two projects under the Marine Fund Scotland to support the refurbishment and upgrading of its facility in Arbroath.
"However the funding was never claimed by Dawnfresh and no funds were paid to the company.
"The application stated grant support was required for the project to go ahead and set out how it would improve profitability and secure the long term future of the business, almost doubling the workforce at Arbroath to over 400, although there would be a net loss of around 70 jobs from the closure of Uddingston.
“A condition of the grant was to secure current jobs at Arbroath whilst creating a further 200, as well as the company following Scottish Government fair work first policy.”
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