Question reference: S5W-30430
- Asked by: Lewis Macdonald, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 3 July 2020
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Current status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 6 August 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to provide to the North Sea oil and gas workforce during the COVID-19 crisis.
Answer
The oil and gas sector continues to be significantly affected by the impact of COVID-19 and the fall in oil price and this has unfortunately led to a number of redundancies across the sector. Skills Development Scotland is continuing to offer PACE support services to all employees facing redundancy.
The Scottish Government has committed £100 million in 2020/21 to support those looking for work or at risk of redundancy to retrain and get back into work. This package of support will include a job guarantee for young people, a new national retraining scheme and more funding to provide immediate assistance and advice if people are made redundant. I shall seek to ensure that the sector is aware of all opportunities for support for individuals arising from this funding, for example in supporting transition to alternative employment within the renewable energy sector.
The Scottish Government has also launched a £62 million Energy Transition Fund which will support businesses in the oil, gas and energy sectors to grow and diversify and will help to attract private sector investment. This investment will support and develop sustainable jobs and contribute to inclusive economic growth across the country.
The Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Strategic Leadership Group is meeting monthly to identify practical actions to support the sector, its supply chain and its workforce.
The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with the UK Government which retains many of the key levers required to support the sector, including delivery of an oil and gas sector deal.