Hundreds of UK civil service jobs relocating to Scotland

Hundreds of UK civil service jobs are due to be relocated to Aberdeen next year, it has been announced.

A report from the financial times on Saturday revealed that over 200 people from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ) will be relocating to the Granite City in 2024.

It comes following a sustained campaign by Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce.

Plans are due to be unveiled next week by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden as part of a wider announcement on civil service decentralisation.

Policy director at Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, Ryan Crighton, said that bringing the roles to Aberdeen makes “complete sense.”

He said: “We have been pressing the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the UK Government to locate more civil service jobs in Aberdeen, so this is fantastic news for the region and a big victory for the Chamber.

“By bringing the headquarters of DESNZ to Aberdeen it will sit alongside other key institutions, such as the North Sea Transition Authority, Net Zero Technology Centre, Energy Transition Zone and the two universities leading on research and new technology to achieve net zero.

“Furthermore, it will place the department in proximity to an industry undergoing an exciting, yet nevertheless challenging transition — a transition that is critical we get right.

“Aberdeen is home to major North Sea operators, the biggest concentration of energy supply chain companies in the UK and a 45,000-strong offshore energy sector workforce – so it makes complete sense for energy civil servants to be located in the North-east.”