The Scottish Government is raiding a multimillion-pound fund which was hoped to protect north-east energy jobs as part of a massive cut in spending announced today.
As much as £460million could be wiped from the ScotWind revenue to pay for some of the emergency measures set out by Finance Secretary Shona Robison in Holyrood.
It was hoped the revenue from leasing parts of the seabed for wind developments would help the shift from fossil fuel reliance in the crucial energy industry, based in Aberdeen.
Ms Robison said she was using the cash “reluctantly”, along with another £23.4million in cuts from the government’s wider Net Zero and Energy portfolios.
ScotWind revenue
“As the financial year progresses, and through our emergency spend controls and continued robust forecasting I am seeking to protect as far as possible that ScotWind revenue – just as I was able to in 2023-24,” she said.
If the ScotWind money is used in full, it would add to around £500m in planned cuts elsewhere.
Ms Robison said much of the pain was due to the new Labour government’s choices at Westminster.
North East Labour MSP Michael Marra said the SNP is to blame for mismanagement.
“This money was meant to support the retraining of energy workers for the renewables economy and bring jobs to the north-east through supply chain investment,” he said.
© Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson“Instead of investing the proceeds in our future the SNP have poured the money into the black hole created by their mismanagement of the Scottish budget.
“Instead of securing north-east jobs for the next three decades it will, ludicrously, paper over the cracks for the next three months.”
Cuts across Scotland
Elsewhere, Ms Robison announced cutbacks in energy efficiency spending, and she told parliament some industry spending has been revised down.
Cuts were also imposed on health services by up to £115.8m, including a £18.8m from mental health.
Rural affairs spending including land reform are scaled back.
Transport spending is being cut by £23.7m, including a return to peak train fares.
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