Emma Lewell-Buck – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emma Lewell-Buck on 2015-12-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make an estimate of the number of UK jobs that would be created if contracts in the energy sector supply chain were awarded to UK firms.

Andrea Leadsom

A report on ‘The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy’ published by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs supported by the low carbon sectors across the UK. [1] The report estimates in 2013 there were 460,600 jobs supported by these sectors, comprising 269,800 people employed by firms operating directly in the sector, with a further 190,800 jobs supported in the supply chain.

Activity in the oil and gas industry supports jobs directly (those working immediately in the sector), and indirectly (those working in the supply chain), plus others supported in unrelated industries as a result of the direct and indirect workers spending their incomes on goods and services. Oil and Gas UK’s 2014 report estimated 450,000 jobs across the whole economy, comprising:

• 36,000 employed directly
• 200,000 in the supply chain
• 112,000 jobs elsewhere in the economy (induced jobs)
• 100,000 jobs in related export industries

Oil and Gas UK updated their analysis in 2015, giving a total of 375,000 jobs across all these areas.

The investment driven by the government will support thousands of new jobs across the energy sectors. For example, Hinkley Point C will provide a vital boost for the national and local economy – expected to support 25,000 jobs, with at least 5,000 people from Somerset expected to work directly on the project, providing a £40 million boost to the local economy every year. EDF expects that more than 60% of the value of construction work on HPC will go to UK-based businesses.

Work is ongoing between the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills regarding support for jobs in the energy sector. Wherever possible we want to see UK firms completing supply chains and exporting around the world.

[1] BIS (March 2015), The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance

“