The Scottish Government has been accused of trying to “correct the record without letting anyone know” after admitting getting job figures wrong in one of its major independence reports.
The Maximising the Return from Oil and Gas in an Independent Scotland paper included the claim that “future growth in the sector will create 34,000 jobs in the industry and related businesses in Scotland over the next two years” when it was published in July.
However, that was changed three days later when it emerged the forecasts cited by the document applied to the UK as a whole, not just Scotland.
The amendment only emerged when Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Gavin Brown asked for the basis on which the jobs claims were made.
He said: “(The Scottish Government) used a UK figure and pretended it was a Scottish statistic, then blamed Lloyds for the mistake.
“However, it turns out the error was the Scottish Government’s, and I’m glad that has now been clarified in black and white.
“It’s also concerning to note the Scottish Government doesn’t appear to have an estimate of the number of jobs that will be created in the oil and gas industry in future years.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said the “basic factual mistake” should have been acknowledged and corrected “in the full glare of the public eye”.
He said: “Confusing possible jobs in Scotland alone with the situation right across the UK is a pretty fundamental error. I am sure there are a few red faces in government offices just now.
“What is more concerning is the fact that it seems ministers tried to correct the record without letting anyone know what they were up to.
“They tried to sneak out a correction without fanfare while Parliament was in recess.”
The Courier asked the Scottish Government for a figure for the number of jobs that will be created in the oil and gas industry in Scotland over the next two years.
However, a spokeswoman simply sent a statement confirming a mistake and subsequent correction had been made.
She said: “The projection of 34,000 new jobs was contained in a Lloyds briefing presented to the Scottish Parliament, which also indicated that all parts of Scotland are likely to benefit.
“The purpose of this section of our report was simply to highlight the substantial employment prospects for this thriving sector which is undoubtedly the case.”