Nicola Sturgeon accused of breach of ministerial code over energy statistic corrections

On September 29, the First Minister had claimed Scotland’s “net energy consumption is already provided by renewable energy sources”. But she was later forced to correct the claim after it was shown to be misleading.

The SNP leader did this without following the appropriate guidance on parliamentary process, raising further questions about the Scottish Government’s approach to correcting the record.

Mr Kerr, writing to Ms Sturgeon, said the SNP leader had failed to make the correction of the record “widely known” as is required by parliamentary guidance.

He said: “Having raised a further matter of non-compliance and disdain for the ministerial code recently (the (perhaps knowing) use of a baseless and misleading statistic by many ministers on offshore wind capacity, followed by Minister [Lorna] Slater suggesting ministers only became aware of it being false on the 8th November 2022), I am disappointed to note that this attitude might extend to you as First Minister."

The MSP called on the First Minister to “comply promptly”. He said: “Given that you as First Minister are required to ensure compliance by ministers with the guidance, I wonder whether you feel the ministerial code or any other such procedural statements require to be amended to address a situation where the member in breach is the First Minister?”

Ministers have faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks over their failure to use accurate statistics following the admission that an often-used claim that Scotland has 25 per cent of Europe’s offshore wind potential was false and outdated.

The UK Statistics Authority also told ministers the statistic had always been “poorly constructed”, undermining claims the figure had been correct when it was first used in 2010.

Ms Slater, the Green minister for green skills, has been accused of misleading the Holyrood chamber over claims ministers only became aware of the error when the Government was contacted by media organisations early last month.

FOI disclosures show officials within the First Minister’s own policy unit knew it was incorrect a month prior to this, with some officials admitting it was poorly sourced in October 2020.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The First Minister corrected the record regarding energy consumption on October 12, 2022. In his letter, Mr Kerr acknowledges he was aware of this.

“The correction was also raised in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament, in the presence of the relevant business manager, on 24 November. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that anyone was unaware.”

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