Issue - meetings

“That the Council: 

1. Notes with extreme disappointment the Chancellor’s decision on 26 November 2025 to keep the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), despite significant lobbying from industry in Aberdeen. 
2. Recognises the Fraser of Allander Institute’s “Is the energy sector at a turning point?” report of 20 November 2025 which shows that the North East economy has contracted by 21% since 2015. 
3. Further recognises Robert Gordon University’s “Striking the Balance” report of 2 June 2025 which shows that we could lose 1,000 oil and gas jobs a month if current policies continue. The equivalent of a Grangemouth refinery closure every two weeks for the next 5 years.
4. Notes with regret the misery that this will cause many families in and around Aberdeen. 
5. Instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Chancellor to outline our city’s concerns about the continuation of the EPL and formally ask that this be reconsidered.”

Carried forward from the Council meeting of 10 December 2025

(i)             to approve the notice of motion;

(ii)           to agree the Labour UK Government’s Autumn Budget, delivered in the House of Commons on 27 November 2025 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, fails to deliver for Aberdeen;

(iii)          to condemn the decision of the Labour UK Government to retain the Energy Profits Levy which is risking thousands of jobs in Aberdeen, and the North East of Scotland, and accelerating decline in the North Sea;

(iv)          to note David Whitehouse, Chief Executive of Offshore Energies UK, said (P&J, 26/11/2025): “Reforming the Energy profits Levy will support the UK’s wider energy future by sustaining the supply chain and industrial capabilities needed for offshore wind, carbon storage and hydrogen projects. Our message to Government is simple: Reform the EPL in 2026 to unlock more tax not less, support more jobs, not less, and deliver more homegrown energy not less.”

(v)           to agree the Energy Profits Levy should be reformed to support "oil & gas & hydrogen & storage & wind"; and

(vi)          to instruct the Chief Executive, on behalf of Aberdeen City Council, to sign Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce's open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, regarding Support our North Sea at this critical moment.