GB Energy is handing out millions of pounds in taxpayers' cash to private consultants to tell it "how to do its job", The National can reveal.
A tender worth up to £20 million has been awarded to London-based firms Deloitte and Baringa Partners by GB Energy, covering many aspects of the day-to-day running of Labour's flagship policy.
The contracts, which were signed on May 1, show the two firms have been awarded a shared programme worth up to £10m each, in which they will be responsible for "organisational set up support", "operational design and delivery", market strategy and "technical support".
Deloitte will be responsible for delivering the bulk of the contract, with Baringa Partners stepping in where there is a conflict of interest or a resourcing issue.
While the total value of the contracts is listed as £20m, the tender notice states that this does not reflect the total value of the services which will be delivered, and the two firms will instead "share" up to £10m between them.
In the two years since Labour took power, GB Energy has been dogged in chaos over a number of key pledges the party made during the 2024 General Election campaign – including that the publicly-owned energy company would be headquartered in Aberdeen, where it would also create 1000 jobs, and that energy bills would be cut by £300.
The National told on Thursday how the latest figures reveal the vast majority of GB Energy staff are not permanent employees but are either temporary or contingent, with just 30 staff employed on a permanent basis.
The contracts with Deloitte and Baringa Partners are set to run for two years, with the possibility of being extended.
They include a strong emphasis on "knowledge sharing", which insiders have suggested shows GB Energy is still building its internal capability from scratch – and could signal "limited in-house expertise".
A total of 80% of the award decision was based on quality, compared with just 20% on how much it would cost.
It comes despite Labour previously pledging to halve government consultancy spending.
The UK Government brought in new controls in November 2024 with the aim of saving more than £1 billion by 2026, which include a requirement for a minister to sign off on any consultancy spend over £600,000.
Yet in March this year, Westminster's Public Accounts Committee brought into question how effective the controls were, saying the UK Government is "currently unable to deliver on its strategic objective to reduce spending on consultants".
One Whitehall source branded the award "nuts", saying it effectively means that "the Government's new state energy champion will be run by an EY type from London".
They told The National: "This is one of the first concrete indications of how Great British Energy will actually function, and it suggests a hybrid model: State-owned, but heavily reliant on costly consultants."
The Scottish Greens condemned the decision, with MSP Patrick Harvie saying that "GB Energy's ability to underdeliver against Labour's grand claims has become an absolute joke".
"It’s a sign of just how little political energy Labour is putting into a just transition for the north east of Scotland and the workers who rely on the energy industry," he told The National.
Harvie added: “Anas Sarwar and Labour promised the people of Scotland a publicly-owned company that would generate and sell renewable energy, just like the publicly-owned energy companies that are common throughout Europe. It’s clear now that this was not true.
“They also claimed that it would create 1000 jobs within GB Energy itself, but they’ve delivered just 30 so far."
Harvie warned that "spending millions of pounds on private consultants reflects a far deeper problem with Labour's approach to government".
“Instead of scaling up in-house capacity, they are once again relying on private sector consultancies," he said.
"It’s an incredibly inefficient approach which fails to develop the skills and capacity that’s needed in the real public sector."
Harvie said that Labour are not "doing what's necessary to achieve a just transition, and nor are they rebuilding the role of the state after decades of hollowing out".
He continued: “The Scottish Greens will stand up for communities that need investment in a just transition, but we’ll also stand for the public sector workers who should be supported to play a more powerful role in the country’s economy.”
Meanwhile, the SNP said the north east of Scotland "doesn't need more so-called energy experts based in Whitehall dictating what is best for Scotland from afar".
Richard Thomson, the SNP's candidate for the upcoming Aberdeen South by-election on June 18, said: “We were promised that GB Energy would slash our energy bills and create thousands of jobs. Instead, we face bills £600 higher than the Labour Party promised.
"GB Energy has created a handful of jobs while 1000 skilled North Sea workers are losing their livelihoods every single month – it is a disgrace."
“Now after nearly two years in power, the Labour Government has splashed taxpayers’ money on ‘experts’ to tell GB Energy how to do its job."
Thomson added: “We have the energy, and we already have the industry expertise in spades – what Scotland needs is the power. With the fresh start of independence we can use our natural resources to protect jobs, lower energy bills and build a wealthier Scotland anew.”
A GB Energy spokesperson said: "Great British Energy is focussed on driving the clean energy transition which will deliver a more secure and independent energy system for the UK."
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