Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 1
1
Accepted in Part
Increase government investment to create clean energy jobs matching North Sea oil and gas losses.
Recommendation
We are concerned that clean energy jobs are not being created at the pace or scale required to match the heavy job losses arising from the decline of the North Sea oil and gas sector. The scale-up of clean energy is progressing more slowly than the decline of the oil and gas sector. The Government should avoid accelerating the decline of North Sea oil and gas production through its policy environment while this remains the case. (Conclusion, Paragraph 52) The Government should urgently address this gap with increased Government investment proportionate to the scale of the challenge. The Government must set out clearly how its investments and policy environment will create the jobs and revenue necessary to replace the jobs being rapidly lost in North Sea oil and gas. (Recommendation, Paragraph 52)
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, highlighting the Clean Energy Jobs Plan aims to nearly double clean energy jobs by 2030 with £63 billion capital funding. It also points to the North Sea Future Plan and Transitional Energy Certificates to ensure a managed transition and retain skilled workforces.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
The government partially agrees with this recommendation. To that end, in October we published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan, a first for UK government, marking a major step forward in supporting the clean energy transition. Delivering our Clean Energy Superpower Mission could see our clean energy workforce nearly double from around 440,000 in 2023 to around 860,000 jobs supported across clean energy sectors and their supply chains by 2030. The Plan sets out clear actions to ensure that both the necessary workforce is in place to support the transition and that clean energy jobs are high quality jobs, with fair pay and good working conditions. We are backing the clean energy transition with the most significant programme of clean energy, climate, and nature investment in British history - allocating £63 billion in capital funding in the most recent Spending Review. This includes £9.4 billion for CCUS, including development funding for Acorn in Scotland and Viking in the Humber, which industry expect to support 15,000 and 20,000 jobs respectively at peak. At the Spending Review, the government also confirmed over £8.3 billion in capitalisation for Great British Energy and Great British Energy – Nuclear to invest in homegrown clean power. Great British Energy’s £1 billion Supply Chain Fund will support the North Sea transition through strategic funding and a focus on utilising the UK’s existing industrial strengths in oil and gas to deliver the next generation of clean energy technologies. The National Wealth Fund will commit at least £5.8 billion in five clean energy and advanced manufacturing sub-sectors over this parliament, including CCUS, gigafactories and electric vehicle supply chains, hydrogen, steel, and ports and their supply chains. In addition, our clean power mission has already attracted over £62 billion of private investment in clean energy technologies. The plans set out in the North Sea Future Plan, published in November strike a balance. They enable us to provide global leadership in climate action in line with the science while ensuring a managed, prosperous and orderly transition, recognising the importance of oil and gas production for workers, supply chains and communities as we make that transition. We are introducing new Transitional Energy Certificates to help maintain existing fields and help ensure they remain economically viable. Continued oil and gas production from existing fields will support a smoother transition and retain the skilled workforce we need in the UK as we ramp up cleaner technologies.