Prime Minister Andy Burnham stated on Friday, October 16, 2026, that the UK government is not withdrawing from its pending decisions regarding the Jackdaw and Rosebank oil and gas fields in the North Sea. Speaking during a visit to Motherwell, Burnham said a verdict on the projects will be issued shortly but did not provide a specific date.
The two projects were originally approved by the previous Conservative administration. However, court rulings later determined that the full environmental impacts of the fossil fuels extracted from these fields must be taken into account. The current government is now reassessing whether to grant the necessary permissions for the developments to proceed.
Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander stated on Friday that ministers are being cautious with public announcements to avoid further legal challenges. Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said on Thursday that a decision on the Jackdaw field is imminent, while the Rosebank project is expected to take longer to finalize. Alexander noted that the Jackdaw decision is currently being handled by Fahnbulleh's department.
The government also addressed criticism from First Minister John Swinney regarding GB Energy, the state-owned energy company headquartered in Aberdeen. Swinney claimed on Thursday that the organization had done "literally, absolutely nothing" since its inception. Alexander contested this, stating that capital is being deployed and that the company is working to improve grid competition and connections for local employers.
Workers in the energy supply chain and those seeking employment through GB Energy are directly impacted by the pace of these decisions. Although the company’s chairman, Juergen Maier, previously projected that GB Energy would employ 1,000 people over the next 20 years, Alexander clarified that the focus is on creating jobs within the broader supply chain rather than hiring a large number of government staff. The scale of investment into GB Energy was described by Alexander as "billions of pounds," though the specific figure per taxpayer or household was not disclosed.
For residents and businesses, the government's focus on GB Energy's role in the national grid is intended to address delays in grid connections, which Alexander identified as a primary concern for local employers. The next steps for the Jackdaw project involve a formal announcement from the Energy Secretary's office, while the Rosebank project remains under a longer-term review process. No specific court dates or final deadlines for these announcements were provided in the report.