The chief executive of Aberdeen Cyrenians has warned that reforming the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) is not just an economic necessity – it is a moral one.
Writing in The Herald, Donna Hutchison said: “In Westminster, the Energy Profits Levy is treated as an economic measure – a line on a spreadsheet designed to capture ‘windfall’ gains from oil and gas. But here, in Aberdeen, its effects are painfully human.”
She added: “Every job lost in the energy supply chain lands somewhere – in a home, a family, and a community. It can mean rent arrears, foodbank visits, or a parent quietly skipping meals so their children don’t have to.”
She said the levy, introduced as a temporary measure in 2022, is now “accelerating job losses and creating social consequences that charities like ours are struggling to absorb” and acting as “a handbrake on our region’s economic prospects as we await the arrival of the renewable energy jobs promised to us by successive governments.”
Warning that Aberdeen could become “the next chapter in that story of industrial neglect,” she added: “The 2025 Autumn Budget must be a turning point – one that recognises the human cost of taxing an industry to death, and the social value of stability."
Read Donna's piece in The Herald here.