Skills Passport: Joint letter from the Scottish and UK Government

To: David Whitehouse, OEUK and Dan McGrail, Renewable UK

From: Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin MSP, and Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Miliband MP

16 October 2024

Dear Mr Whitehouse and Mr McGrail,

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, along with the Scottish Government recognise the critical role that successfully delivering a skills passport for the Clean Energy Transition in Scotland will play in helping workers transition from carbon-intensive industries to clean energy sectors.

The initial funding of £3.7 million provided by the Scottish Government to OPITO over 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 helped kickstart this work to bring together key stakeholders across oil and gas and offshore wind sectors.

We are grateful to all those involved in the work done on mapping out careers between different sectors which has been warmly welcomed as a valuable asset for understanding the links between sectors. Similarly, efforts to find mutual recognition between qualifications will make it much simpler for workers to transition between sectors.

Since the inception of this project, the Department has recognised the value of a skills passport in benefiting workers and protecting local communities during the transition. We believe that this is an important step in addressing the wider issues raised by a Just Transition. We see this solution as a key project and right step on our path to providing equal and fair treatment for all workers and communities during our transition to a Net Zero society.

Furthermore, we are grateful for the significant progress OEUK and Renewables UK have made since you took ownership of it this summer. The Department has recognised the tremendous effort that has gone into this and the ambition to have an initial version available to workers by January 2025. The collaboration with the Scottish Government and the Department over the last few months has been very much appreciated and led us to this point.

With DESNZ coming on board as an official project partner, we hope to build on this progress made with the support of Scottish government to facilitate delivery of an initial version to workers by January 2025. The Department will help the project by convening stakeholders across different industries and sectors to come and work together on mutual recognition and career mapping to help the development of this passport. We will also provide our own project management advice upon request to help expedite the delivery of this passport in a timely manner.

We can confirm that we will begin preparations to come onboard with the Skills Passport immediately and further announcements will be made in due course.

Kind regards,

Ed Miliband
Secretary of State for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero

Gillian Martin
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy