Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has met with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) representatives of the oil and gas industry in Scotland to discuss (i) domestic skills, (ii) training and (iii) recruitment in that industry in Scotland.

Both Ministers and officials in this department regularly meet with counterparts from the Scottish Government to discuss a wide range of issues impacting the oil and gas sector in Scotland. However, given that skills and related issues in Scotland are devolved these issues are a matter for the Devolved Administration.

BEIS Ministers and officials meet regularly with the oil and gas industry. For example, I met a range of oil and gas industry representatives and a member of the Scottish Government during a visit to Aberdeen on 2 September 2019. The visit included attendance at the Maximising Economic Recovery UK (MER UK) Forum, where a range of industry issues were discussed. On 20 August 2019 the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy visited Aberdeen where she met representatives from the energy industry.