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Hundreds of jobs moving to Aberdeen as UK Government plans new energy hub

The plans are due to be formally unveiled on Tuesday as part of a wider announcement on moving thousands of civil service jobs out of London.

A new UK Government energy hub will be created in Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.
A new UK Government energy hub will be created in Aberdeen. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson.

Hundreds of civil servants are being relocated from a UK Government energy security department to new offices in Aberdeen.

The plans are due to be unveiled tomorrow by Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden as part of a wider announcement on moving thousands of civil service jobs out of London.

Aberdeen’s business chamber said the move was “fantastic news” for the region.

Further details are expected to be confirmed by the government on Tuesday.

The plan to move officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to Aberdeen comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak seeks to increase investor confidence in North Sea oil and gas.

‘Big victory’

Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, who wrote to Mr Sunak in February asking that these jobs be located in the city, described it as a “big victory”.

Around 100 officials currently work for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in the north-east via environmental operator OPRED.

Ryan Crighton, policy director at the chamber, said: “By bringing the headquarters of DESNZ to Aberdeen it will sit alongside other key institutions, such as the North Sea Transition Authority, Net Zero Technology Centre, Energy Transition Zone and the two universities leading on research and new technology to achieve net zero.

“Furthermore, it will place the department in proximity to an industry undergoing an exciting, yet nevertheless challenging transition — a transition that is critical we get right.

Ryan Crighton, policy director at Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. Image: Supplied.

“Aberdeen is home to major North Sea operators, the biggest concentration of energy supply chain companies in the UK and a 45,000-strong offshore energy sector workforce – so it makes complete sense for energy civil servants to be located in the north-east.”

The prime minister has faced criticism after pledging annual licensing rounds for the North Sea and rolling back on net zero policies in recent months.

Greenpeace said places like Aberdeen need an “urgent plan” to move towards clean energy but claimed Mr Sunak’s record so far signals the “exact opposite”.

The UK Government is already more than half way towards meeting its commitment of moving 22,000 civil service jobs out of London by 2030.

It forms part of the government’s levelling up agenda which seeks to address regional economic disparities and ensure civil servants are rooted in local communities.

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