A group of four Westminster SNP MPs have expressed their “disappointment and anger” that just 35 energy civil servant roles will be relocated to Aberdeen by 2027.
Following last year’s announcement of a second headquarters for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in Aberdeen, media reports suggested 200 roles would be relocated to the North East.
Conservative Minister for the Cabinet Office John Glen MP also told the BBC that “hundreds more” energy civil servants would come to Aberdeen.
But after Energy Voice revealed the number of roles headed to Aberdeen last week, SNP First Minister Humza Yousaf said it was another “Westminster betrayal of the North East”.
SNP express ‘disappointment and anger’
Now, a group of four SNP Westminster MPs, including the party’s Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Kirsty Blackman, Richard Thomson, and Dave Doogan, have written to express their “disappointment and anger” over the decision to relocate just 35 roles, “rather than the ‘hundreds’ that [the] government took great care to brief would be the case”.
© Wullie Marr/ DCTIn the letter, addressed to Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, nuclear and renewables minister Andrew Bowie, and Mr Glen, the four SNP MPs called on the UK government to explain the confusion over the number of DESNZ roles being moved to Aberdeen.
“It provides further evidence – as if any were needed – of the chasm between what your party in government says it will do for the North East of Scotland and its key industries, and what little it delivers in reality,” the letter stated.
“It is clear that the vast difference between the number of DESNZ jobs that the UK
Government indicated would be relocated to Aberdeen relative to the number of jobs now being delivered can only be explained by bad faith; incompetence; a change in policy; or some combination of the three.
“We look forward to receiving your explanation as to why your Government is failing to deliver on the expectations that it took such care to stoke at the time.”
SNP blasts ‘betrayal’ of North East
Taken alongside shortfalls in ‘Levelling Up’ funding and slow progress on the ‘Acorn’ carbon capture and storage project, the SNP MPs said the DESNZ revelation is the latest “betrayal” of the North East of Scotland.
Last week, a DESNZ spokesperson said: “Hosting our second headquarters in Aberdeen underlines the importance of north east Scotland in our net zero transition.
“While we never committed to a specific number of roles in the city, the headquarters already has over 100 staff, and our ambition is to increase this by a third by March 2027.
“An Aberdeen base puts those working in the department closer to those working in the crucial oil gas and renewables industries – both the companies and the tens of thousands of their workers who play a vital role in our energy supply.”
Responding to a question on the DESNZ Aberdeen move from Mr Doogan in the House of Commons today, Mr Bowie said:
“We’re particularly proud that we’ve announced Aberdeen as hosting our second headquarters.
“It underlines the importance of the North East of Scotland in our net zero transition.
“Unlike the Scottish National Party, we do champion the north east of Scotland – (the SNP are) anti exploration, anti new licences and anti oil and gas.”
Mr Bowie said contrasted the UK government’s efforts to increase the number of DESNZ civil servants in Aberdeen with the SNP-led Scottish Government, which he said maintained “zero jobs” in Mr Doogan’s constituency of Angus.
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