Exploration for oil and gas and low-carbon jobs correspondence: EIR release

Information requested

You have asked for a range of information across multiple parts. This response covers the following parts of your request:

1) All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to the policy proposal for a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023.

2) All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to any evidence base that new exploration for oil and gas would help achieve the Scottish Government’s target of net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.

3) The details of meetings and correspondence with the energy industry the Scottish Government (Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials) holds that evidence consultation with the oil and gas industry on its presumption against new exploration for oil and gas in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023.

4) All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to the Scottish Government’s proposal to create 77,000 low-carbon jobs by 2050 as highlighted in its Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023.

8) How many staff or officials dedicated to supporting the energy industry or energy policy outcomes are located in Aberdeen City?

You will receive a separate response to the other parts of your request.

Response

As the information you have requested in the parts covered by this response is 'environmental information' for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In relation to part 1 of your request) “All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to the policy proposal for a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023.”

To ensure that the material provided is relevant to this request, we have interpreted the request to cover the following timeframe from 10 October 2022 – 10 January 2023. This is the three month period preceding publication of the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP). Searches have been undertaken for correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials over this time period that is about a policy proposal for a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas.

I enclose a copy of some of the information that you have requested.

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. This relates to the published version of the draft ESJTP (which includes the policy proposal for a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas) and a published ministerial opinion piece:

Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan - gov.scot
Delivering a fair and secure zero carbon energy system - gov.scot

If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed above, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs applies to some the information you have requested. This exception applies because officials need to be able to provide free and frank advice to Ministers which have been shared in confidence or are sensitive, and their ability to do this may be impacted by the knowledge that information may be published. In addition, officials need to be able to have free and frank conversations with each other as part of the policy development process, again their ability to do this may be impacted by the knowledge that information may be published.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because disclosure of the information requested would enhance public scrutiny of our decision-making or policymaking processes, and therefore our transparency and accountability. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring officials and ministers and officials and officials can conduct free and frank discussions as part of the policy development process.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

In relation to part 2 of your request) “All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to any evidence base that new exploration for oil and gas would help achieve the Scottish Government’s target of net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045.”

We have interpreted this part of your request in the context of parts 1, 3 and 4, as being in relation to the Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP). The Energy System and Just Transition: independent analysis commissioned by Scottish Government and published on 3 March 2023 formed the main evidence base for the offshore oil and gas aspects of the draft ESJTP. In particular, this analysis included scenarios for Scotland’s future energy requirements and how these aligned with international climate change commitments to reach net zero. [Please note: Scotland’s domestic statutory emissions reductions targets, as set under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and including the 2045 net zero date referred to in the request, are based on the Scottish greenhouse gas inventory which is disaggregated from the overall UK inventory. Emissions associated with offshore oil and gas production activity (e.g. flaring on platforms) are included in the UK inventory but not in the disaggregation to Scotland or any other Devolved Administration (or England).]

Under this interpretation, searches have been undertaken for correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials in relation to the role of offshore oil and gas in the modelling scenarios for energy transition within the Energy System and Just Transition: independent analysis. Given the interaction with part 4 of your request (see below), this includes searches for information related to estimates for the numbers of low-carbon jobs within these scenarios of. These searches have been undertaken for the period 3 December 2022 – 3 March 2023, which is the three month period preceding publication of the Energy System and Just Transition: independent analysis report.

If this was not your intention, then you may wish to consider specifying a time period of interest as part of any further request.

I enclose a copy of some of the information that you have requested.

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. This relates to the final version of the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan, including the oil and gas chapter, with a link to the published Strategy provided in response to Part 1 of your request and the published report of the Energy System and Just Transition: independent analysis.

If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

An exception under regulation 10(4)(e) (internal communications) of the EIRs applies to some the information you have requested. This exception applies because officials need to be able to provide free and frank advice to Ministers which have been shared in confidence or are sensitive, and their ability to do this may be impacted by the knowledge that information may be published. In addition, officials need to be able to have free and frank conversations with each other as part of the policy development process, again their ability to do this may be impacted by the knowledge that information may be published.

This exception is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception. We recognise that there is some public interest in release because disclosure of the information requested would enhance public scrutiny of our decision-making or policymaking processes, and therefore our transparency and accountability. However, this is outweighed by the public interest in ensuring officials and ministers and officials and officials can conduct free and frank discussions as part of the policy development process.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

In relation to part 3 of your request) “The details of meetings and correspondence with the energy industry the Scottish Government (Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials) holds that evidence consultation with the oil and gas industry on its presumption against new exploration for oil and gas in the Scottish Government’s Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023”

To ensure that the material provided is relevant to this request, we have interpreted this part of your request to cover the period of
consultation on the draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) from 10 January 2023 to 9 May 2023.

In relation to the request for details of meetings, there were 3 meetings in scope.

Date	Company / Individual	Minister
10 January 2023	David Whitehouse, CEO of OEUK	Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport
10 January 2023	Melfort Campbell, Co-Chair of Oil and Gas and Energy Transition Senior Leadership Group	Richard Lochhead, Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work
10 January 2023	Sir Ian Wood	Richard Lochhead, Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work

I enclose a copy of some of the information that you have requested in relation to these meetings.

An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the 'public interest test', so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.

In relation to the request for correspondence, the information you have requested is available from publicly available sources, namely the “view submitted responses” section of: Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan consultation - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space.

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

In relation to part 4 of your request) “All correspondence between Ministers, Special Advisers and Officials relating to the Scottish Government’s proposal to create 77,000 low-carbon jobs by 2050 as highlighted in its Draft Energy Strategy published on 10 January 2023.”

The draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) did not include, as your request suggests, “a proposal to create 77,000 low-carbon jobs by 2050”. The reference to 77,000 low-carbon jobs within the draft ESJTP relates to one of the modelling scenarios identified within the Energy System and Just Transition: independent analysis evidence base published in support of the draft Strategy.

That analysis included three illustrative energy system modelling scenarios, all consistent with a net zero transition but with differing levels of societal change and technological deployment. In the “central” modelling scenario, it was estimated that - with the right support - the number of low carbon jobs in the energy production sector could rise from 19,000 in 2019 to 77,000 by 2050.

In this context, the scope of information considered is the same as that already identified under part 2 of your request.

In relation to part 8 of your request) “How many staff or officials dedicated to supporting the energy industry or energy policy outcomes are located in Aberdeen City?”

As of 24 March 2025, there are 280 Scottish Government officials who are located in Aberdeen. These comprise:

• 5 staff members across the Directorate for Energy and Climate Change and the Offshore Wind Directorate.
• 275 staff members within the Marine Directorate, only some of whom work to support energy policy outcomes.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500458970 - Information released - Annex

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