Question reference: S5W-30457
- 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 30 July 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the job losses among oil and gas workers in Scotland that were reported to the Strategic Leadership Group on Oil and Gas and Energy Transition in July 2020 by Skills Development Scotland.
Answer
As part of the update that Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provided to the Strategic Leadership Group on Oil and Gas and Energy Transition SDS outlined that Oil and Gas Sector employers had notified agencies of 7,414 jobs that were at risk in Scotland, as at the 25th June 2020.
I should advise you that SDS does not monitor the number of actual redundancies because their focus is on providing support to those affected by redundancy. As such, PACE partners respond to reports of redundancy which may be received from a range of sources including HR1 notifications, the media and local intelligence. An offer of support is made to each employer and SDS's key focus is to ensure all employees who may require our support receive it.
Additionally, I should explain that redundancy HR1 notifications may not, ultimately and following consultation, result in actual redundancies and there is a number of reasons for this: for example, they may be related to a change in terms and conditions which, if accepted, do not result in redundancies or other means of avoiding redundancies.
Clearly, given that the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has allowed furloughing of staff, is currently scheduled to end in October, we remain concerned that there may yet be more HR1 notifications to follow in the sector.