Kirsty Blackman MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Jun 2025 · Nuclear Power: Investment · Hansard source

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  This £14 billion splurge on English nuclear power plants comes on top of £22 billion for English carbon capture and storage, while there is nothing for Scotland’s Acorn project. With Grangemouth allowed to close and the fiscal regime ruining the north-east’s energy jobs, this latest announcement shows that Scotland is not an afterthought—Scotland is not a thought at all. If nearly £40 billion can be found for English energy projects, why has money never been found for Scotland’s carbon capture project?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Relocating Civil Service Roles · Hansard source

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  My party was pleased to hear the announcement that GB Energy is coming to Aberdeen, which we have consistently said is the only sensible place for it, as Members would expect an Aberdeen MP to say. Given that GB Energy will bring a maximum of 1,000 jobs over the next 10 years, will the right hon. Gentleman please encourage his ministerial colleagues not to suggest that those jobs will replace the 400 jobs a fortnight that we are set to lose in the offshore energy industry over the next five years?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Battery Energy Storage Sites: Safety Regulations · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne) on securing this important debate. Some of the newer Members may not know quite how much I love the geekiest possible debates. I have not had as much time since I became SNP Chief Whip, so I cannot reach the geeky heights managed by the right hon. Member for Wetherby and Easingwold (Sir Alec Shelbrooke) in reading the International Fire and Safety Journal . I commend him on that, but I want to bring the debate to another geeky level and talk about the mechanisms by which the Government should take action. There has been a lot of talk today about planning mechanisms and regulations, but I urge the Government to look at health and safety regulations. I am from Aberdeen and a number of years ago we had the Piper Alpha disaster. The Piper Alpha disaster and the Cullen report that came afterwards resulted in a massive step change in safety. It was a huge, drastic change in how those things worked, with health and safety regulations that apply across the whole of the United Kingdom. Planning, for example, is devolved to Scotland and a lot of environmental rules are the preserve of the Scottish Parliament. Currently, there are no health and safety rules in this area. The House of Commons Library briefing for this debate states: “There are no laws that specifically govern the fire safety of battery energy storage systems”. It also states: “There are no specific health and safety laws relating to BESSs.” I have written to the Health and Safety Executive, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, the city council and the Scottish Government about this issue. I have done a lot around battery energy storage sites. The HSE wrote back to me saying that it is a member of the cross-Government group on battery energy storage, so it is working on that. It has a landing page on its website that brings together some of the regulations of battery energy storage, but most of them were written for the safety of individual batteries rather than for the safety of these storage sites. That, specifically, is what is missing: the health and safety guidance for battery energy storage sites. A number of Members have spoken about local or UK-wide issues, but across the world there have been 85 fires at battery energy storage sites. That is not a small number or a small percentage. This is a risky business. I do not disagree with those who say that these sites are necessary. We absolutely need them for our energy systems in the future, but they need to be safe. We need regulations in place. We should bring them together, even if it is just the best practice from all different places, to ensure that there is one place where the health and safety guidance is held. I would be even more flexible than having it updated by Parliament. I would give the HSE a level of control over changing and flexing that guidance, should more best practice come through. Again, that would apply across the whole of these islands, and I think that would be the best way forward. I want to mention two other things. First, an earlier speaker mentioned that we have extreme weather events—once-in-a-generation events—just about every week at the moment. It is really important that we look at both the extreme temperatures and the flooding events that may occur, as flooding events at battery energy storage sites are an issue; whether or not there has been a fire in advance of a water leakage, there could still be concerns. Secondly, I want to talk about the money. A number of people are looking at these sites with dollar signs in their eyes, thinking, “We can build these things and make a whole lot of money.” Actually, we should be telling the organisations that are creating the battery energy storage sites that they will need to pay for the fire safety assessment, consult the local fire service, and pay for the training of the local fire teams on tackling fires at these sites. I think that would be the most reasonable way forward. We should ask them to pay for that training, because it is those organisations that will be making a huge profit from the sites. It should not just be the public services that have to train up and increase the number of hours that retained firefighters, perhaps, are working. I think that is really important. I urge the Minister to look at HSE guidance as the method and mechanism for taking this on. I have pushed the Scottish Government to change some of their planning guidance already—particularly around notification of local community councils, for example—but that health and safety guidance is, I think, the key place to take action, make that change and bring it together in one place, so that all our constituents are safer as a result.

• 14 May 2025 · Ministerial Code: Compliance · Hansard source

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  In recent times we have seen an increasing trend of the Government failing to make statements to the House first, despite there being no barrier to them doing so. Last Thursday was a mess, with the Minister of State for Business and Trade trying to withdraw the statement on the UK-US trade agreement, despite Members having waited here for seven hours for the statement to materialise. The decision to abolish NHS England was relayed to the House on 13 March, having been trailed in the media beforehand. On Wednesday 12 March, an urgent question was granted on an announcement that had been made the day before on the sustainable farming incentive being cancelled. On 6 March, a consultation on North sea energy that had been announced to the media the day before was relayed to the House in a statement. In February, the Government changed the refugee citizenship rules, and they still have not informed the House. On Monday this week, the Prime Minister announced the contents of the immigration White Paper via a speech that mirrored Enoch Powell, despite Parliament sitting later that day. This is a consistent pattern of behaviour by the UK Government. I am concerned that there is little point in having a ministerial code if the Government can ignore one of the key principles with no sanction and apparently no consequences. The Government are nearly a year into their term, so disorganisation or a lack of familiarity with the rules can surely no longer be cited as reasons for consistent breaches of the code. I believe that the UK Government should adhere to the principles set out in the ministerial code, and that the Leader of the House must urgently set out how she intends to improve the situation and ensure that there is adherence.

• 23 Apr 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree, and my hon. Friend would expect me to talk about the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University in my constituency. Along with North East Scotland college, they have been doing really important work as part of the Aberdeen city deal and the energy transition zone to ensure that we have skills for the future. Aberdeen council has created a significant number of jobs and things like foundation apprenticeships to encourage young people into the sector, but we need people to think about tech as well as make it. We have the right ingredients, but we need to ensure that everybody has confidence in the commitments that are being made. That is where the gap is. I have spoken to the Minister about that, and I have no doubt that he is strongly committed to that, but my concern is that the industry does not believe that the Government are strongly committed to a just and managed transition. About 12% to 17% of people in Aberdeen city are directly employed in oil and gas, and a significant number are indirectly employed, but there has been a massive reduction in jobs since 2014. We have recently seen an increase in offshore wind revenue, but there are 4,000 fewer jobs so something is going wrong. My key ask is that the Government listen to people and have a plan. The world looks very different now from how it looked in July 2024. When the Government were elected, Donald Trump was not in the White House and we did not have the global uncertainty caused by that. Something like 20% of the liquefied natural gas that we import comes from the US, and we are involved in global trading markets for oil and gas, so the increase in global volatility means that we need to think more seriously about energy security. We have had to do that since Russia invaded Ukraine and since covid, but the situation is even more desperate now. To ensure energy security, we must take control of everything we can, and we must not rely as significantly on imports as we will if the Government maintain their current direction of travel, particularly given that we do not have gas storage and are basically using LNG ships as offshore floating storage. My key ask is for the Government to listen to people. The Minister does go out and listen to people, but they are saying that the Government are not getting it right. They are perfectly happy with some of the rhetoric, but they are concerned that action will not follow. They do not yet trust the Government’s commitment to a just and managed transition. Whatever the Government’s views—whether they are committed to a just and managed transition or not—they need to ensure that people believe they are. That is the gap, and my suggestion for dealing with it is in line with the North Sea Transition Taskforce’s “Securing the Future of the Energy Transition in the North Sea” and Offshore Energies UK’s most recent report: we must ensure that there is a kind of mission control, so that there is somebody in charge of this. I appreciate that the Minister, the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland are talking about that and are willing to answer my questions, but nobody seems to be in control. There is no oversight at a governmental level; there is no one person in the Government about whom everybody can say, “That person is in charge of the just and managed transition.” There is no group that has been set up. We have all seen just transition plans from many organisations, including the Government, but nobody seems to be saying, “This is the just transition plan. This is what we are following. This is where we want to go.” A commitment from the Government that they would be willing to look at the key asks from the OEUK and in the North sea transition plan would make a big difference. We need to say, “This person is designated the just transition mandarin”—or however we want to style them—“and they are in charge. This is who we go to if we have a concern. This is who will ensure that decisions are being taken across Government to protect these jobs.” There are other things the Government could do in terms of the £28 billion commitment and the spending review. There will be uproar if that £28 billion is cut during the spending review. I beg the Government not to cut that money. There is a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero consultation that has closed, and there is another consultation on the fiscal regime. My slight concern on those is about the timing. Oil and gas companies will make final investment decisions and plans for next year perhaps in August or September this year. If we do not have an outcome by that point, particularly on the fiscal regime, companies will say things are too uncertain and will not invest next year. Again, we will see the loss of jobs as a result. The timing is key. The Government may not be able to announce their final decisions—around the fiscal regime, for example—but if they could give industry a direction of travel in advance of investment decisions and financial plans being made, we would not lose next year. I am really worried that we are at the point where we will lose next year and all the associated jobs as a result. The Government are not yet getting this right. They need to do more listening and to ensure that they are taking control. The facts and the context have changed in the past year, because of the global changes and the job losses we continue to see. I am not asking the Government to row back on what they planned; I am asking them to consider that the context and the facts have changed and, therefore, that the plan needs to change to recognise that. This is not about having to walk back from where we believe we should be. This is about ensuring that people in my constituency, and people across the country, who are employed in oil and gas—75% of workers are employed in the rest of the UK—have a secure future. We cannot see a gap as oil and gas jobs go down and renewables jobs go up, because we will lose all that talent and the incredible bonanza that we are at the best point to take advantage of. We might lose that just because people do not believe that the Government are committed enough. Now is the time to take these decisions and to ensure that people believe that the Government are committed to a just and managed transition.

• 23 Apr 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support · Hansard source

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  We have a huge amount of work to do, particularly with young people. When I talked to Developing the Young Workforce North East recently, I was heartened to hear that a significant number of young people in north-east Scotland still want to go into engineering, which is incredibly important, whether that is in fabrication or not, because engineering is involved in all of it. I am worried that we will lose that, because the industry is ageing, and the same thing is happening in offshore oil and gas. People see that their uncle, cousin or grandad was made redundant in oil and gas, and they worry about going into engineering. If young people are not excited and passionate about the future of renewables, we will not be able to build the amazing tech that we need to ensure that renewables deliver a profit and work commercially, so I am concerned about skills. One of the key things that the Government could do is ensure more UK content and fabrication. We have amazing fabrication works—not so much in Aberdeen, but around the north-east and the rest of Scotland and the UK. That is a point that I wanted to make: this is a significant problem not just for Aberdeen but for the rest of the UK, given that only 25% of the jobs in offshore oil and gas are in the north-east of Scotland.

• 23 Apr 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered transitional support for North Sea oil and gas workers. I appreciate the chance to have this debate, Sir Desmond, because this is an incredibly important time for the oil and gas industry and those employed in and around oil and gas. I will lay out the context and where we are right now, and then talk about my key asks for the Government, given the current situation and people’s worries about the direction of travel. I want to start with a quote from the seventh carbon budget: “As of 2021, direct employment in oil and gas in Aberdeen has declined by nearly one-third since 2015. Household disposable income has fallen and poverty has increased…Some estimates indicate that around 14,000 people in the region will need to have moved to other roles or sectors between 2022 and 2030.” That is such a stark comment from a well-respected organisation, which has produced an incredibly useful and informative report. It says that household disposable income has fallen and that poverty has increased, albeit not in line with the national average—everybody is feeling the pinch of the cost of living—but as a direct result of changes to the energy industry and the lack of pick-up in the renewables sector to compensate for that. As a result of political uncertainty, the current situation and direction of travel, there is a real lack of confidence in the energy industry. We expect companies that have previously majored in oil and gas to fund a significant part of the renewables revolution. We expect them to put their money in and fund the offshore wind power that we will need. We expect their skilled workers to transfer into those industries. We are at the point now where we risk losing the significant edge that we have in skills, manufacturing capabilities and people. We risk losing that if the Government do not take action now to ensure that the transition is just and, importantly for this debate, managed properly. As a result of the lack of confidence, final investment decisions by oil and gas companies, or companies working specifically in renewables and not so much in oil and gas, are being pushed back. Whether that is to do with their inability to get grid connections right now or the Government’s changes to the energy profits levy and extension of the windfall tax—which, by the way, has been stopped in every other country that had such a tax—companies feel that the Government are not going the right way. Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce’s energy transition survey shows that political uncertainty and concern about the political direction of travel has gone from the seventh top worry to the top worry in just two years. Whatever the Government think they might be doing, and whatever rhetoric they might use, the industry does not believe that they have quite got it right, so they need to change where they are going.

• 23 Apr 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister agree to consider the timescale of the consultation outcomes so that people have the earliest possible notice, in advance of next year’s budgets, if possible?

• 23 Apr 2025 · North Sea Oil and Gas Workers: Transitional Support · Hansard source

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  I had concerns about the windfall tax in the first place. I thought that a windfall tax should be applied, but that it should have applied across the board to all those companies that made significant profits during covid, whether that was supermarkets, Amazon or oil and gas companies. Singling out the oil and gas industry was the wrong thing to do at the time. In terms of the comparative level of the tax, I do not know the answer, and I do not want to say something that is not right, but I felt that it was wrongly applied. A number of other companies made significant profits, and the oil and gas industry felt singled out, as though it was somehow different. I accept that it is different from other industries in a number of ways, but the levels of profit were not as high as they were in 2014, for example, and singling that industry out when supermarkets were making a much higher percentage profit than they had in previous years did not seem like the right thing to do. I appreciate the Government’s work on a skills passport for the industry. That is important, but there is no point having a skills passport if the jobs are not there. We have not seen the offshore wind industry increase at the pace we would like it to, and we cannot do all the work necessary to reduce the amount of oil and gas without those jobs for people to move to. In response to ET40, the 40th energy transition survey by the Aberdeen and Grampian chamber of commerce, one company said that “Forcing the end of oil and gas for our company before offshore wind is ready to replace the lost revenues” is one of its biggest concerns. That is how a significant number of companies feel right now. Companies are struggling to find people with the skills they need, whether in oil and gas or offshore renewables. The people who will be building offshore renewables will be working three-on, three-off shifts, in the same way that oil and gas workers do. It is really difficult to adjust to life on three-on, three-off shifts—it is not easy for workers to change their lives and ensure that someone is home looking after their kids if they have a family. Oil and gas workers have that transferability, because their lifestyle is already set up to do that. We are at a tipping point. The risk is that these highly mobile, highly paid oil and gas workers will go abroad. The responses to the ET40 survey show that a significant percentage of these people are moving to postings abroad either within company or in other companies. Despite the massive disparities in disposable income, an unbelievable number of people who live in Aberdeen North have been on holiday to Dubai. The majority of Members in this room will not have many constituents who have spent holidays in Dubai, whereas I have heaps, because they have that level of transferability and portability—they can up sticks and move to another country, because drilling is the same there. They might be doing it at a higher carbon cost and with fewer terms and conditions, but they are still getting a highly-paid job. They can uproot to do that, because they are used to moving around the world. If we do not take control of the situation now, we will lose the skills we need to power the renewable future, which is incredibly concerning. One of the UK Government’s founding missions is to grow the economy. We will not be able to grow the economy if we do not take advantage of this situation, and the time is now.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Welfare Cap · Hansard source

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  It is absolutely about long-term planning. That is why we are making the case that we cannot have a welfare cap and that things are being done backwards. We should put in place all the supports that the Government are promising, and more, to get people to the position where they can get into work. The welfare cap is an unfortunate hurdle, particularly as it bakes in some of the cuts that have been made, such as the winter fuel payment. It seems that there will not be an increase in the level of paternity pay; it would be nice to see an increase in paternity pay levels and in the number of men taking up paternity leave. On young people not in education, employment or training—a phrase that was used earlier, when somebody said NEET—it would be great if young people had more chances and choices. Finally, on issues relating to specific geographical locations—the Minister mentioned Blackpool—hon. Members would not expect me, as the hon. Member for Aberdeen North, to avoid talking about the importance for Aberdeen of having a just transition. I mentioned doing things backwards; the Minister needs to ensure we build up renewable energy jobs before we knock down the jobs in fossil fuels. I am concerned that the Government are failing to do that in the right order, and that we will have gaps where people will become unemployed because of the UK Government’s actions.

• 24 Jan 2025 · Unity Contract · Hansard source

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  The nuclear defence enterprise for the UK is an extortionate vanity project. We would much rather the money was spent on conventional defence capabilities. The Minister states that the contract will drive efficiency to reduce waste and save over £400 million. Given that no major nuclear contract has ever come in under budget, how does she expect this to happen? On the 200 jobs that will be split between Cardiff and Glasgow, can she let us know when during the course of the contract these jobs will be delivered? Will it be at the end or earlier on, and what will the split be between Cardiff and Glasgow?

• 12 Dec 2024 · LGBT Veterans: Etherton Review · Hansard source

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  It is not my place to comment on individuals who perpetrated such abuses, nor to judge whether these were systemic issues or whether personal gain was received. However, I understand that people want redress. The Minister has recognised that, above and beyond the pot of money specifically for those who were discharged, there is another pot for those who faced additional hardships. One of my constituents has been in touch to say that he had intended to be in the armed forces for life. That was his plan and he had never wanted to do anything else; his aim was to be a member of the armed forces. When he was ejected, his hopes, dreams and sense of self were all gone from him, and recovering from that trauma is incredibly difficult. I appreciate the work that the Minister and the Secretary of State have done, as well as the work done by the previous Government, in order to ensure the compensation scheme has come forward, and I appreciate that the amount of money in the pot has been increased. I have already asked some specific questions, but on the family of veterans, it is incredibly important that there is follow-through. For example, previously, the medals sent to some LGBT veterans were posted in the normal post and fell through the letterbox on to the carpet, along with bills from BT and energy suppliers. I do not think that was appropriate or provided the same recognition that other people received when they got their medals. More can be done to ensure that being part of the family of veterans is not just warm words, but a reality. People should be provided with a welcome, as well as being told that they will provided with a welcome to that family. I thank the Minister and everyone who has spoken today. I thank all the organisations and individuals who have been fighting for this outcome. I also thank those who have not been brave enough to tell their stories, and who are going through such difficult times that they are not able to do so. Those who are in the Gallery today have been able to give voice on behalf of themselves, but also on behalf of their friends and colleagues who are not able to tell their stories to us today or to the review. I thank those who have told their stories for being the voice for the community. I hope the Minister is able to answer some of my questions, in order to ensure the compensation scheme works as the Government intend and gives an amount of recompense for the extreme trauma and suffering that people have been through.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Scotland’s Economy · Hansard source

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  I appreciate your taking the time to chair this debate so excellently, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Glasgow East (John Grady) on his speech. I am glad and relieved to hear that he is not proposing to marry me. I am married already, but I appreciate that he considered it, however briefly. The hon. Gentleman mentioned Aberdeen as one of Scotland’s great cities; Aberdeen is the greatest city. I am literally here to say that. It is the greatest city not just in Scotland, but in the entire world. If anybody would like to spend time in Scotland, I thoroughly recommend Aberdeen. Thankfully, it is where Labour have chosen to put GB Energy. That makes a huge amount of sense, because we have been at the forefront of energy generation and subsea technology for so many years. The level of skills and expertise in and around Aberdeen is unparalleled. We are, however, at a tipping point. There is a see-saw, where we need to see growth in jobs in renewable energy. I appreciate the comments and commitments that the Government are making, but if the change is to happen, we cannot lose the skills we have in oil and gas, because those people will go abroad to use their skills. We need to have that see-saw effect. We cannot pull oil and gas down in advance of putting renewables up. I have spoken incredibly passionately and regularly on climate change and the need to meet our targets, but the UK Government must consider the gap there will be in the middle if they choose to take action too quickly without ramping up jobs in renewables. I am pleased to hear the commitment to a Scottish visa. I am really excited that we will have our own immigration system that works for the needs of the people of Scotland, rather than the populism of how the UK Government think that things should be for people in the south of England.

• 4 Sept 2024 · Scottish Work Visa Scheme · Hansard source

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  The skilled worker salary threshold and the skills list are simply not working. Will the Minister ensure that the skilled occupation list is fit for purpose in Scotland, and that it works for our energy transition?