Whitehall to move staff to Scotland to boost confidence in North Sea oil

Up to 200 civil servants tasked with progressing the government’s climate change agenda will be moved to work from Aberdeen, the home of the UK’s oil and gas industry.

The move will see staffers from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) moved to Scotland in a bid to shore up investor confidence in the North Sea oil and gas sector, according to a report in the Financial Times this weekend.

It is set to be announced by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden this coming week, the report said.

Aberdeen’s chamber of commerce told the paper the move was “fantastic news” for a city that has about 45,000 people employed in the offshore energy sector. 

DESNZ didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

The news comes after it was revealed last month that decommissioning costs for the North Sea oil and gas fields could overtake UK capital expenditure within the next 16 years.

Rishi Sunak’s government has come under fire in recent months for bringing forward a series of controversial policies including the continuation of oil and gas drilling licenses.