Our letter in the National today.
A REPORT by the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde claims that almost 50,000 people are working in the Scottish renewables sector, but it should be taken with a very large pinch of salt. The report was commissioned by Scottish Renewables, so the intent behind it was clearly to propagandise in favour of the Scottish renewable energy industry.
One of the key words running through the report is “estimate”. The jobs turn out to be an estimate of around 49,200 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs. The estimates, we are told, are also subject to revision as further survey responses are received and as methods are improved. It is based on Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey data with a model of the Scottish economy, because renewable energy is not separately identified in the national accounts. We are also told that survey uncertainty, revisions to official data and an updated economic model mean the results should not be compared directly with previous editions. These caveats, taken together, suggest either that previous reports, or this one, cannot be regarded as truly accurate.
What is the renewable energy sector? Who knows? It is not currently defined by the ONS. Instead, the report has constructed a hypothetical renewable energy sector. It’s difficult to know what that means, but it’s easy to see that the most generous gloss has been put on this – for example, of the 49,200 FTE jobs “supported by” Scotland’s renewable energy sector, 825 are in arts, entertainment and recreation; 350 are in public admin and defence; 375 are in water supply, sewerage and waste; 1135 are in finance and insurance; 200 are in mining and quarrying. And so it goes on, with jobs seemingly being re-labelled to suit the narrative. Almost incredibly, 5050 are said to be in electricity and gas.
The report runs to no more than 12 pages. Its analysis is too short and too simple to allow of detailed scrutiny. For instance, of the jobs said to be supported by the Scottish renewables sector, we are not told how many of the workers concerned are UK citizens and how many are foreign nationals. We know that many of the renewable energy companies working in Scotland and hoovering up taxpayer-funded subsidies are foreign-owned. We know that much of the money paid to them goes abroad. The report fails to analyse such issues.
The front cover image for the report was provided by SSE. I suggest that he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Aileen Jackson
Scotland Against Spin
0 Comments