Neil Findlay wants MSPs to investigate the financial support given to Kaiam and other companies to build their business in Scotland

An inquiry must be launched into government grants that were handed out to the troubled manufacturer Kaiam, which made more than 300 employees redundant on Christmas Eve, a politician has said.

The company, which called in administrators last week, was given an £850,000 grant by Scottish Enterprise in 2014 to move production facilities from China and expand in Livingston.

Neil Findlay, Scottish Labour MSP for the Lothians, has called on Holyrood’s economy, energy, and fair work committee to investigate the financial support given to the factory and whether the grants and loans were a good use of public money. He also questioned how money should be recouped “if the business awarded support [does] not fulfil its obligations relating to initial award of the grant”.

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