Substantiated facts of employment statement made by a Member of Parliament: FOI release
- Published
- 31 July 2025
- Directorate
- Chief Economist Directorate
- Topic
- Economy, Public sector
- FOI reference
- FOI/202500470536
- Date received
- 12 June 2025
- Date responded
- 24 June 2025
Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
Information requested
On 7th June 2025 Dave Doogan SNP MP tweeted using an eye catching infographic:
"New figures show that more than 47,000 jobs and £15.5 billion of output is supported by Scotland’s renewable energy industry."
Please can you point me to the substantiated facts from a trusted source like the ONS or similar for the above statement by Mr Doogan?
As a follow on question;- what percentage of these jobs are based in Scotland and undertaken by people already living in Scotland?
Response
I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested, in the form of a briefing note, which was produced by officials in the Scottish Government.
Although the numbers in the quote are not sourced, they do match those which were published in a recent report by the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI), setting out the economic impact of Scotland’s renewable energy sector. The report can be accessed via the following link: The-Economic-Impact-of-Scotlands-Renewable-Energy-Sector.pdf
The FAI report contains information on the economic impact of the renewables sector on Scotland’s economy, as broken down into the following 3 components:
1. The Direct Impact: the output and employment of renewable energy companies.
2. The Indirect Impact: the economic activity supported within the supply chains of renewable energy companies.
3. The Induced Impact: the direct and indirect effects lead to increased employment across the Scottish economy, which, in turn, leads to increased wage spending. The economic activity arising from this increased spending is the induced impact.
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- File type
- File size
- 123.1 kB
Contact
Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG