LESS than a fifth of GB Energy staff work in Aberdeen – while the organisation employs more people in London than the whole of Scotland, The National can reveal.
Labour's flagship General Election policy is being called into question yet again after staffing figures were uncovered.
Official figures shared with The National reveal there are 69 people employed at GB Energy, just 13 of whom (18%) are based in Aberdeen – where Labour pledged GB Energy would be based.
Labour had pledged 1000 jobs for Aberdeen through GB Energy, though its chairman admitted earlier this year that this could take 20 years to achieve.
Meanwhile, 45% of GB Energy staff (31 people) are employed in London, higher than the 42% of staff who work across the whole of Scotland.
Outside of Aberdeen, there are 15 GB Energy staff employed in Edinburgh, while one employee is based in Glasgow.
Other locations GB Energy staff are employed include Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington and Manchester.
Bills have only increased since the General Election last year.
GB Energy's official address is listed on Companies House at the UK Government's AB1 building in Aberdeen city centre (pictured below).
A GB Energy spokesperson claimed "rapid progress" had been made in setting up the company, adding that it expects to employ up to 300 people in Aberdeen "over the next five years".
It marks the first time official figures have been released in the 14 months since Labour won the General Election.
There were no "formal employees" recorded at the company until the GB Energy Bill received royal assent in May, with officials saying at the time was due to the company still "being established".
Full list of GB Energy staff numbers and locations:
- Aberdeen – 13
- Birmingham – 1
- Cardiff – 1
- Darlington – 3
- Edinburgh – 15
- Glasgow – 1
- London – 31
- Manchester – 3
- Remote worker – 1
There are an additional 10 members of staff employed by GB Energy, who consist of the company's non-executive directors and the chair, Jurgen Maier, who The National previously reported is based in Greater Manchester.
In light of the revelations, the SNP told The National that Westminster "cannot be trusted" with Scotland's energy.
SNP MP Graham Leadbitter, the party's energy spokesperson, said: "Westminster has syphoned off some £400 billion from energy rich Scotland while we continue to pay some of the highest energy bills in the world and now we know the Labour Government's flagship GB Energy supports more jobs in London than in Aberdeen, the home of our energy sector.
“The chair of GB Energy admitted the north east is 'haemorrhaging' jobs so rather than treating Scotland’s energy wealth as an expendable asset, the Labour Government must back our domestic industry and its workforce to power the transition to renewables and deliver the economic growth so badly needed in broken, Brexit Britain."
Leadbitter added: "GB Energy has been gutted to fund nuclear power and solar panels in England while Labour Government energy policy is costing Scotland's thousands of jobs – not only are they trying to shut down Scotland’s world leading industry without a replacement in place, they’ve slashed economic growth and hopes of net zero in the process.
"When it comes to Scotland’s energy, Westminster cannot be trusted – it's no wonder more and more Scots are concluding the only way we can use our industry to benefit people who live here is with independence."
Meanwhile, Scottish Greens MSP for the North East, Maggie Chapman, said: “This isn’t delivering meaningfully for people in the North East. Aberdeen was promised that it would be the GB Energy HQ, but a baker's dozen members of staff more than a year later is hardly groundbreaking.
“There must be real action taken to invest in the future of sustainable energy and the North East of Scotland is capable, skilled and ready for that transformation. The UK Labour government cannot let the workers and communities down by failing to meet their pledge.”
It is understood that the UK Government is still intending to have GB Energy headquartered in Aberdeen, with a significant proportion of staff expected to be employed in the city.
In the meantime, GB Energy's offices remain in the AB1 building, which is shared with other UK Government bodies, on a temporary basis.
An update on the permanent location of the Aberdeen headquarters and workforce numbers is expected in due course.
A GB Energy spokesperson said: “Over the last year, we’ve made rapid progress in setting up Great British Energy [GBE] – establishing a board, appointing a start-up chair and permanent CEO, and installing solar panels to lower bills for hundreds of schools and hospitals.
“In the short-term, we have taken pragmatic steps to establish a workforce to build GBE quickly and deliver benefits to UK taxpayers as soon as possible. This has led to a greater spread of roles across locations in the interim for GBE’s early delivery.
"As we build on this success, we expect to employ 200-300 people from our headquarters over the next five years, drawing on Aberdeen’s world-leading energy and engineering expertise. Our long-term ambition remains to employ a permanent workforce in Aberdeen as a priority."
