Scottish Government's Energy Consents Unit staff data and spend: FOI release

Information requested

(1) How many individuals are currently employed at the Scottish Government's Energy Consent Unit?

(2) What is the total spend on the Scottish Government's Energy Consent Unit since 2021? (Please could you split that up by financial year).

Response

1. The Energy Consents Unit (ECU) currently employs 72 staff.

This figure refers to the number of individuals working within the Unit at the time of your request and includes both full‑time and part‑time employees.

2. The total spend on the Energy Consents Unit since 2021 is £32,314,610.00.

This expenditure covers Planning Authority Fees, Staffing costs, and Other Costs.

A breakdown by financial year is provided below:

Financial Year	Total Expenditure (£)
2021–2022	2,724,280.00
2022–2023	4,261,865.00
2023–2024	5,187,532.00
2024–2025	8,659,854.00
2025–2026 (Partial Year)	11,481,078.58

The Energy Consents Unit operates on a cost‑recovery basis, aiming to break even by offsetting its expenditure and staffing costs with income generated from application fees and related charges. Further information on application fees is available in The Electricity (Applications for Consent and Variation ofConsent) (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022

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.