New figures reveal Scotland received £14.5bn for Covid support

New Treasury data has shown Scotland received an extra £14.5 billion of financial support to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, as part of £352bn spent across the UK.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay said the annual publication of the Block Grant Transparency showed that since the start of the Covid pandemic, the Scottish Government had received the additional funds to help support individuals, businesses and public services.

Overall £352bn was spent across the UK on Covid-19 measures, which he said also included protecting more than 900,000 jobs in Scotland through the furlough scheme, £294 million in self-employment support, help for businesses and the procurement of vaccines.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay said Scotland received £14.5bn in Covid spending.

Meanwhile the Welsh Government received an additional £8.6bn and the Northern Ireland Executive £5bn.

Mr Barclay said: “The UK Government is fully committed to strengthening the Union and making sure Scotland has the funding needed to get through this pandemic, with £14.5bn of additional spending over the last year.

“We’ve protected more than a million Scottish jobs and businesses with furlough and support schemes, our vaccine rollout is unlocking the economy, and our Plan for Jobs is levelling up opportunity and helping us build back better across the UK.”

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said the UK Government had taken “unprecedented action” to help people and businesses.

“That includes our furlough scheme, support for self-employed people, help for businesses, and the hugely successful UK-wide vaccine programmes,” he said.

“On top of this direct support, the UK Government has provided an additional £14.5bn of funding for the Scottish Government. This extensive support, which now enables us to look towards recovery, shows how Scotland benefits from being part of a strong United Kingdom. Never has the value of the Union been more important or more apparent.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has received confirmation of £13.3bn in Covid-19 consequentials to date based on the main estimate process. This represents Scotland’s share of UK Government spending on the pandemic.

“As there is no guarantee on Covid-19 funding in 2021/22, this may be reduced later in the financial year if Covid-19 spending in England is revised downward.”

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