Swinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision

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John Swinney has said he is “deeply concerned” by the decision to cancel grant funding for an “absolutely central” carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility. The Acorn project in Aberdeenshire was due to receive £200 million in grant funding from the UK Government , but Chancellor John Healey changed the commitment to mean the UK Government would offer the same amount in loans or receive an equity stake in the project. UK ministers were accused of causing confusion over the funding this week, with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds telling the BBC: “There hasn’t been a cut to the £200 million, I can reassure you that that commitment stands.

“That is the grant funding, but there could well be loans or equity stakes taken, because we will need probably additional funding to secure the future of this project.” Speaking to the Press Association on Friday, the First Minister voiced his opposition to the decision. “I raised the issue of Acorn and my concerns about the fact that I think further uncertainty has been created for Acorn,” he said. “What I understand the position to be is the UK Government has decided not to offer grant funding to the Acorn project, but instead to do that through financial transactions.

“That creates more risk, that creates more uncertainty about the project. “The very act of changing the funding mechanism does that, and I am deeply concerned about that because I think the Acorn project is an absolutely central project in relation to our work on climate action and it’s essential that it’s taken forward as part of that agenda and as part of encouraging the reindustrialisation of Scotland.”

Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture

The article omits the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's response: Acorn will keep its existing grant funding until the end of the year, and the department says an equity-style investment would allow a closer partnership. Without this, a reader may think grant money stopped at once and may hear only Swinney's case for why the change matters.

How we know

The Independent reported“Acorn will continue to receive its existing grant funding until the end of the year.”Swinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision (opens in a new tab)

Read the original article on standard.co.uk

What we found (2)

The Standard reports John Swinney's concern over the UK Government changing £200 million in grant funding for the Acorn carbon capture project into loans or equity, and quotes Treasury minister Emma Reynolds saying the commitment stands. Its opening line says in its own voice that grant funding was cancelled, which the Treasury minister quoted below disputes. It also leaves out the government's statement that Acorn keeps its existing grant until the end of the year.

States one side's claim as fact
Minor
“the decision to cancel grant funding”
Why this matters
The words "the decision to cancel grant funding" sit in the outlet's own voice, outside Swinney's quoted words, and present the cancellation as settled.
The impression it gives
A reader comes away believing the UK Government has simply cut off Acorn's grant money.
The context
The government disputes this. Emma Reynolds says in the article that the £200 million commitment stands and calls it grant funding. The department's spokesperson, in other coverage of the same event, says Acorn will keep receiving its existing grant until the end of the year. The cancellation is Swinney's reading of the change, and the outlet should have attributed it to him.
How we know
- Elsewhere in the article“There hasn’t been a cut to the £200 million”
- The Independent reported“Acorn will continue to receive its existing grant funding until the end of the year.”Swinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision (opens in a new tab)
Show it in the article
Leaves out what changes the picture
Minor
What is missing
The article omits the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's response: Acorn will keep its existing grant funding until the end of the year, and the department says an equity-style investment would allow a closer partnership. Without this, a reader may think grant money stopped at once and may hear only Swinney's case for why the change matters.
How we know
- The Independent reported“Acorn will continue to receive its existing grant funding until the end of the year.”Swinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision (opens in a new tab)
Show where it belongs

What it gets right

“There hasn’t been a cut to the £200 million, I can reassure you that that commitment stands.”
The article quotes the government's own account in full, so the reader hears the Treasury's position as well as Swinney's.
“Chancellor John Healey changed the commitment to mean the UK Government would offer the same amount in loans or receive an equity stake in the project”
It names who made the change and says plainly what the change was, so the reader knows the amount stayed the same while the form of funding changed.

How other outlets reported it

The IndependentSwinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision (opens in a new tab)

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Swinney ‘deeply concerned’ by Acorn carbon capture decision

States one side's claim as fact

Leaves out what changes the picture

What it gets right

How other outlets reported it

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