A SKILLS passport to support workers in the transition away from fossil fuels will be introduced by the next Labour government.
The concept of an energy skills passport to enable qualifications gained by workers in the offshore oil and gas industry becoming fully transferable to new greener industries had been set out in the UK government’s 2021 North Sea Transition Deal after concerted lobbying from offshore trade unions to preserve jobs and skills.
Since then, concerns over the future of as many as 100,000 jobs connected to North Sea oil and gas production as the country transitions from fossil fuels has continued to grow — and after being championed by unions including RMT and Unite, as well as socialist MSP for the North East Mercedes Villalba — the SNP Scottish government adopted the policy in 2022.
Remarking on Labour’s commitment to deliver the passports should it win office in July, Stephen Flynn, SNP candidate for Aberdeen South, said: “The Labour Party pay so little attention to the north-east that they don’t even seem to know that the Scottish government is already funding the development of a skills passport.”
That funding of an energy skills passport by his colleagues in the Scottish government has however yet to bear fruit.
The passport had been planned to be delivered by May 2023, but despite the SNP Scottish government ploughing £5 million into the scheme being developed by world energy skills operator Opito alongside fellow not-for-profit the National Energy Skills Accelerator, ministers moved the start date to the end of 2023, a target which itself went unmet amid fury from unions and climate activists alike.
Pledging Labour to delivering the passport, shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray said: “The industry is rightly asking for a plan for jobs and this is a part of delivering that.
“The present situation, where training in one industry isn’t recognised in the other, cuts off opportunities for oil and gas workers.
“The fact some workers are paying out of their own pockets is scandalous.”
Having long lobbied for action on the passport to help deliver a just transition for offshore workers, RMT welcomed the announcement, but general secretary Mick Lynch warned: “This initiative must be integrated into a broader, ambitious Green New Deal.
“The protection of oil and gas workers’ jobs, along with the preservation and enhancement of their skills and livelihoods, must be central to this vision.
“Only through such comprehensive measures can we ensure a just transition for all workers.”
