Alex Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alex Cunningham on 2015-02-10.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2015 to Question 221932, what estimate he has made of the number of redundancies in the offshore drilling sector since the introduction of the Investment Allowance.

Priti Patel

The government understands the challenges currently facing the UK oil and gas industry and is following developments in the North Sea closely.

The Investment Allowance rewards companies investing in the long-term future of the basin – at all stages of the investment life cycle – and we would expect it to significantly reduce the effective tax rate for companies investing in the UK Continental Shelf.

Work on the design of the new Investment Allowance has been progressing rapidly since December – the government published a consultation document on its proposals on 22 January.

The government recognises the importance of the industry to local economies and as an employer. The report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in partnership with Oil and Gas UK and OPITO (the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation) in December, “Fuelling the next generation: A study of the UK upstream oil and gas workforce” highlighted both the sector’s current contribution to employment and its future potential. The government will continue to work closely with industry through the Oil and Gas Industry Council and with the newly-formed Scottish Energy Jobs Taskforce to support jobs in the sector, develop the industry’s skills base and make sure this potential is realised.