SCOTTISH Secretary Alister Jack has been slammed as being "asleep at the wheel" by an SNP MP for not visiting a single Scottish renewable energy company in 2021 - despite Glasgow preparing to host COP26 in November.

Following publications of ministerial meetings, it has been shown that neither Jack, the Tory MP for Dumfries and Galloway, nor any junior minister has met with or visited a renewable energy company in the first quarter of 2021.

The SNP's spokesperson for energy and climate at Westminster, Alan Brown MP, has made frequent requests of the Scotland Secretary to detail how many companies he visited this year but has not received an answer.

In the list of Scotland Office ministerial meetings, Scottish under-secretary Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, has met with smart cities company Urban Tide, Cosla and the Scottish Events Campus to discuss COP26. Jack has met with Police Scotland to discuss a number of issues including COP26.

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The COP26 UN climate conference is due to be held in Glasgow this November with representatives from all over the world flocking to Scotland as it is hoped an agreement will be made to combat the climate crisis.

Brown, the MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, said: “As COP26 fast approaches, the UK Government should be making it a priority to meet representatives from the Scottish renewable sector to discuss how to promote their industry. 

“Scotland leads the way with wave and tidal development – this should be promoted to the world. Thanks to our renewable energy generation, the equivalent of our electricity demand was met by renewable energy generation in 2020 – a great success story.

“Despite repeatedly asking the Scottish Secretary how many companies he has visited so far this year, his failure to answer has inadvertently told us the whole story.

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“This Tory government should be pulling out all the stops to highlight and promote this sector which is the future of Scottish and British energy. As Glasgow prepares to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference this November, it beggars belief that no senior Tory ministers are putting in the leg work to make the most of this event.

“Not only is this UK Government failing Scotland in energy grid charges – which sees Scotland charged the highest in all of Europe – they are falling asleep at the wheel when it comes to our renewable energy sector, too.”

Transmission charges in Scotland are the highest in the whole of Europe with Scottish energy generators paying an average of 16 times more to use the system compared to those on the continent and England.

It means that for a 1GW offshore windfarm, the difference between those in the south of England and Scotland equates to a difference of £1bn over 20 years.

A UK Government spokesperson said: "The UK Government is bringing the COP26 to Glasgow, leading the way on international efforts to tackle climate change. We are setting a high bar for other countries to follow as we build back greener from the pandemic. That includes engaging with and supporting Scotland's fantastic green energy sector."