McArthur comments on embargoed report calling for ScotWind transparency

Commenting on the embargoed Audit Scotland report into management of the ScotWind leasing round which warns that the Scottish Government should provide clearer, disaggregated plans for the use of offshore wind option fees, develop longer-term plans for future leasing round option fees and forecast annual lease income received, and how these are to be administered and used, and be more transparent about the use of offshore wind funding, Scottish Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP said:

“Scottish Liberal Democrats have been consistently critical of the SNP selling off Scotland’s seabed on the cheap, using the money to plug budget gaps and tossing around plans for a so-called wealth fund which never seems to get off the ground.

“This report is rightly sceptical of how the government has acted.

“If Scotland’s renewable energy wealth is truly to serve the Scottish public, the government need to massively improve governance and transparency.

“Ministers should come to Parliament and set out a long term plan for using ScotWind revenues and how these will ensure that taxpayers receive value for money when they are utilised.”