It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Both Ministers and officials in this department regularly meet with counterparts from the Scottish Government to discuss a wide range of issues impacting the oil and gas sector in Scotland. However, given that skills and related issues in Scotland are devolved these issues are a matter for the Devolved Administration.

BEIS Ministers and officials meet regularly with the oil and gas industry. For example, I met a range of oil and gas industry representatives and a member of the Scottish Government during a visit to Aberdeen on 2 September 2019. The visit included attendance at the Maximising Economic Recovery UK (MER UK) Forum, where a range of industry issues were discussed. On 20 August 2019 the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy visited Aberdeen where she met representatives from the energy industry.

The Government is committed to encouraging investment in the oil and gas industry across the whole of the UK, building on previous incentives such as tax reduction and funding support.

It awarded the Oil & Gas Authority a £5 million fund for 2018/19 to survey under-explored areas of the UK Continental Shelf to find potential new deposits. The successful award of licences for the UK’s Frontier 31^st Offshore Licensing Round announced in June was supported by data from the Government-Funded Seismic Programme.

The Oil & Gas Technology Centre, backed by both the UK and Scottish governments, today has more than £100 million co-invested with industry to develop and deploy technology, helping anchor the industry’s expert engineering supply chain in the North East. In May, the government backed industry plans for a Global Underwater Engineering Hub in Aberdeen to reinforce the UK’s status as a global leader in the field and build on expertise in subsea robotics, remotely-operated underwater vehicles and maritime support vessels. This will strengthen Aberdeen’s place as an energy hub for offshore and renewables, boosting prospects for new skilled jobs and further investment in the region.

The Department estimates that the oil and gas sector, defined as the combination of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes 6 and 19, made a financial contribution of £23.9bn of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2018[1]. The latest release of the UK Business Register and Employment Survey indicates that there were 20,700 direct jobs in the sector, with a further 124,100 roles supported in the immediate supply chain.[2] While it is not possible to estimate the economic contribution of the oil and gas sector to each region of the UK with sufficient granularity, the latest Oil and Gas UK Workforce Report estimates that Scotland, Greater London and the South East of England account for three-fifths of total employment supported by the offshore oil and gas industry.[3]

[1] ‘Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas’ and ‘Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products’ respectively. Note that as SIC code 19 includes coke oven products, this measure may lead to a slight overestimate. For context, the balance of GVA generated is £20.5bn and £3.4bn for SIC codes 6 and 19 respectively: GDP output approach – low-level aggregates, ONS - June 2019

[2]Industry (2, 3 and 5 - digit SIC) - Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), ONS - September 2018

[3] Workforce Report, Oil & Gas UK - 2018

HM Treasury’s 2018-19 accounts recognise a provision of £357m payable to MCX Dunlin and MCX Osprey in respect of decommissioning expenditure in relation to the Dunlin cluster of fields, created as a result of Fairfield Energy defaulting on their decommissioning obligations. The decision to decommission the Dunlin cluster was a commercial decision made by Fairfield Energy, MCX Dunlin and MCX Osprey after reaching agreement with the Oil and Gas Authority that maximised economic recovery had been achieved for these assets.

The provision is based on the tax relief due on the estimated remaining costs of decommissioning the defaulted fields, discounted for the time value of money.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, relating to the Airbus Helicopters EC175, which mandates inspections of the Horizontal Stabiliser main spar before the next flight, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 10 flight hours.

Airbus Helicopters issued an Emergency Alert Service Bulletin temporarily restricting EC175 helicopters to a maximum speed of 80 knots to facilitate a return to a maintenance facility for these inspections to be carried out. When the EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive is complied with, the speed restriction no longer applies.

As the UK’s aviation safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) monitors all aspects of the operations of offshore helicopter companies and any risks to safe operation through its safety oversight programme and is in close contact with EASA and offshore helicopter operators on this subject. The Secretary of State has not had direct contact on this issue.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has published an Emergency Airworthiness Directive, relating to the Airbus Helicopters EC175, which mandates inspections of the Horizontal Stabiliser main spar before the next flight, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding 10 flight hours.

Airbus Helicopters issued an Emergency Alert Service Bulletin temporarily restricting EC175 helicopters to a maximum speed of 80 knots to facilitate a return to a maintenance facility for these inspections to be carried out. When the EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive is complied with, the speed restriction no longer applies.

As the UK’s aviation safety regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) monitors all aspects of the operations of offshore helicopter companies and any risks to safe operation through its safety oversight programme and is in close contact with EASA and offshore helicopter operators on this subject. The Secretary of State has not had direct contact on this issue.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) seeks to ensure that North Sea helicopter flights are as safe as possible. It is carefully reviewing the Recommendations and Actions in CAP 1145 to check that they achieve the objective of making further improvements to offshore helicopter safety standards.

The CAA currently intends to publish the review in the autumn of 2019.

A speed restriction on H175 helicopters was introduced by the manufacturer on 20^th June 2019. This is a temporary measure until a European Aviation Safety Agency Emergency Air Worthiness Directive has been actioned, following which the restriction will no longer apply.

During the period of flight speed restriction on H175 helicopters, alternative helicopter types are in operation to take workers to and from oil and gas platforms.

The level of funding the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has allocated for mitigating the detrimental effect of offshore wind sites on our air defence radars cannot be separately identified from wider funding that is used to operate and undertake trials with these radars.

We will continue our work to reduce the effect of offshore wind sites on our radars through safeguarding activity and our existing radar support contracts. We will also continue to conduct flight trials to assess the effectiveness of current and proposed mitigations.

The MOD remains committed to working closely with industry on mitigating against the effects of the expanding offshore windfarm developments on our air defence and air surveillance capabilities and requirements.

Workers within the offshore oil and gas industry in internal or territorial waters, or working regarding exploitation of the continental shelf, are entitled to the same protections as UK workers. This includes receiving the National Minimum Wage for all their work on installation, construction and maintenance, regardless of nationality or where they ordinarily work. As with all other workers, their terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). Once agreed they form a legally binding contract of employment. While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.

Agency workers’ rights conferred by the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 are self-enforced at an Employment Tribunal. The enforcement body for the recruitment sector, the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (EAS), investigates every relevant complaint that falls under its remit as set out in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and has a strong track record in upholding the rights of agency workers.

Workers within the offshore oil and gas industry in internal or territorial waters, or working regarding exploitation of the continental shelf, are entitled to the same protections as UK workers. This includes receiving the National Minimum Wage for all their work on installation, construction and maintenance, regardless of nationality or where they ordinarily work. As with all other workers, their terms and conditions of employment are for negotiation and agreement between employers and employees (or their representatives). Once agreed they form a legally binding contract of employment. While it is always open to either party to seek to renegotiate the terms of the contract, if the employer changes any of the terms without the employee’s agreement, the employee may be entitled to seek legal redress.

Agency workers’ rights conferred by the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 are self-enforced at an Employment Tribunal. The enforcement body for the recruitment sector, the Employment Agency Standards inspectorate (EAS), investigates every relevant complaint that falls under its remit as set out in the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and has a strong track record in upholding the rights of agency workers.

Our assessment is that UK companies should be in an excellent position to compete for suitable projects.

UK Export Finance stands ready to provide support.

The Government is committed to the long-term future of the oil and gas sector which supports over 280,000 jobs and has been one of our great industrial success stories over the past 50 years.

In 2015, the Government established the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), which works hard to attract investment and jobs, helping to anchor valuable skills and expertise in the UK, and prioritises revitalising offshore exploration.

In recent years, the Government has provided unprecedented levels of support to the offshore oil and gas sector to encourage investment in the sector and support jobs, placing the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) amongst the most competitive fiscal regimes in the world. Work is ongoing to ensure the fiscal and regulatory regime is appropriate to support the UKCS and ensure the basin remains open for business.