STUC report criticises £2bn black hole in government green jobs ambitions

A new report by the STUC has criticised a £2bn black hole in funding to deliver on ScotWind commitments. 

Scotland’s largest trade union body described government rhetoric around investment and jobs as “little more than hot air".  

The report into ScotWind reveals that Scotland has “zero” significant manufacturing sites, despite the need for 19 to meet domestic procurement promised by developers.  

It also suggests that there could be peak direct employment of 25,000 jobs “if the committed investment of ScotWind developers into Scotland becomes reality”. 

STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer accused politicians at Holyrood and Westminster of having “their head in the sand” on securing the potential of ScotWind jobs as “less than £600m [is] on the table” from both the Scottish and UK Government of the minimum £2.5bn required to scale up Scotland’s supply chain. 

Foyer said: “The promises of ScotWind will be little more than hot-air if both the Scottish and UK Governments aren’t prepared to stump up the cash to secure the jobs we know we can build. 
 
“Our ScotWind report released today, the latest in our analysis of Scotland’s green energy economy, shows that politicians have their head in the sands with a £2 billion gap in the funding needed to build our domestic supply chain. 
 
“In order to reach the target of 25,000 jobs, Scotland needs a minimum of 19 manufacturing sites. We currently have zero. That’s a chronic indication of the political rhetoric clearly not matching the action needed to do what is right by our energy workers. 
 
“We can secure a truly just transition for workers in the sector but only if the politicians follow the necessary next steps set out in this report. Workers are ready to play their part. Politicians should do likewise.”