The Scottish Government has been accused of “frittering away” its green energy cash windfall just as the Tories failed to capitalise on Scotland’s oil and gas boom.
The GMB Union has compared Finance Secretary Shona Robison to Margaret Thatcher following the government's raid on £460m raised through the ScotWind leasing of the seabed for wind energy projects.
The union said using the money to finance public sector pay deals, rather than using it for the promised energy transition, was “unsustainable”.
Louise Gilmour, the union’s Scotland Secretary, said it was also wrong for the government to suggest that public sector pay deals caused the £500m cuts to spending.
She said ministers were repeatedly warned that their public pay strategy was unfit for purpose.
And she raised the spectre of Thatcher’s use of oil and gas money on day-to-day government spending, rather than the prudent establishment of a sovereign wealth fund which could have secured billions for future generations.
We want to know — are the Union right? Is using Scotwind cash for pay deals the SNP’s Thatcher moment?
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Read more around this issue:
- Union compares Robison to Thatcher over £460m ScotWind cash raid
- Shona Robison confirms £500 million cut to public services
- Robison told contingency plan needed as spending cuts loom
The Scotwind money was originally raised from an auction of seabed leases to companies planning to build offshore wind farms.
There were 20 projects approved in 2022, raising £756m in fees, which the government said at the time would “tackle the twin climate and biodiversity crises.”
However, ministers have already dipped into the fund, taking £96m in 2022-23, and another £200m used this year.
There had been plans to use some of the money in 2023-24, but it was never drawn down
No additional funds from ScotWind are expected until electricity generation begins, likely closer to 2030.
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