Renewables Sector: Employment

8. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on levels of employment in the renewables sector in Scotland.

Producing the clean energy we need is not only right for our energy security and our climate; it is the right thing to do for jobs and investment. Last week, the CBI revealed that the UK’s green economy has created more than 1 million jobs. In Scotland, the industry generated £10.2 billion and supported more than 105,000 jobs, predominantly benefiting local small and medium-sized enterprises and communities all around Scotland.

We are losing over 1,000 jobs a month in our oil and gas industry, and despite what the Secretary of State has just said, we are not seeing a similar uptick in green jobs. Skilled workers are losing their jobs in oil and gas, and are actually leaving the country. The Government’s actions are making the United Kingdom poorer and less secure, and we are waving goodbye to highly skilled jobs. How can the Secretary of State honestly tell this House that there is a transition going on?

Look at the work being done, and the investment being made, by Iberdrola and ScottishPower. The hon. Gentleman shakes his head, but that is real investment delivering real jobs. If he would like to comment further on this issue, perhaps he would like to apologise for the abject absence of a plan from the previous Conservative Government on the North sea, which explains the fact that they lost 70,000 jobs on their watch.