Peter Grant
Main Page: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Andrea Leadsom
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning this to me. I had the great pleasure of speaking in Parliament at a recent east of England oil and gas meeting. I would be delighted to meet him to discuss this further, and if appropriate, we will certainly make sure that officials attend the meeting he mentions.
Peter Grant (Glenrothes) (SNP)
11. What estimate she has made of the number of jobs in Scotland supported by the renewable energy industry.
Stuart C. McDonald (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)
15. What estimate she has made of the number of jobs in Scotland supported by the renewable energy industry.
Peter Grant
We know that some jobs will be lost as a result of the Government’s decision prematurely to withdraw the subsidy from onshore wind farms. The Government were reluctant to tell us how many jobs they thought would be lost. Will they tell us what an acceptable price would be, in terms of Scottish jobs? How many jobs would have to be lost in the Scottish renewables sector before the price was deemed too high?
Amber Rudd
The hon. Gentleman will not be surprised to hear me say that job creation and job support are incredibly important in Scotland, and in the UK overall. Renewable energy remains a growth area, with high employment and investment. Scotland has a number of employees in the offshore wind sector, which continues to grow. I attended a conference on the sector yesterday. It is beginning to have a serious impact on exports.