Scottish business chiefs make plea for parity after English firms handed £3,000

Business leaders have urged the Scottish Government to ensure more than 100,000 firms don’t “lose out” on one-off emergency coronavirus funding.

Talks are now being sought to boost support for the tourism and hospitality sectors, after Chancellor Rishi

Sunak announced that 700,000 firms in England would receive £3,000 grants as part of a £2.2 billion package in his budget yesterday.

Scotland’s Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has pledged that businesses in Scotland will be “supported” in response to the announcement.

Business leaders in Scotland have urged the Scottish Government to ensure they don't miss out. Picture: PA

The Scottish Government received an extra £640 million in “Barnett consequentials” and there are calls for ministers to mirror the support announced by Mr Sunak which will result in firms, currently eligible for small business rates relief (SBRR) or Rural Rate Relief south of the border, receive the one-off grants.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB Scotland) says if similar criteria were used in Scotland it would mean around 110,000 firms could be eligible. Andrew McRae, the FSB Scotland policy chair, said: “We’ll be seeking early talks with ministers in Edinburgh to urge them to investigate what else they can do, especially for businesses in hospitality and tourism, given the moves we’ve seen today.

“If the smallest firms in England are receiving one-off grants to help see them through, then we need to see decision-makers ensure that local businesses in Scotland don’t lose out.”

Dr Liz Cameron, of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce added: “We call on the Scottish Government to support small businesses by immediately adapting the Small Business Bonus scheme to match the chancellor’s pledges of support for small companies in England. And to consider also suspending rates bills for retail, leisure and hospitality firms in Scotland as the UK Government has announced.”

David Lonsdale, Scottish Retail Consortium Director, said: “We hope to see a swift announcement from the Scottish Government on how they will allocate a portion of the very significant Barnett Consequential revenues to support businesses facing a very difficult few months.”

The situation is uncertain because the Scottish Government, unusually, agreed its own budget before the UK spending plans. The delay arose as a result of the general election in December.

Ms Forbes said: “I will ensure that businesses in Scotland are supported and will work with the business community to identify the most effective measures available to us, when we have more clarity on the funding available.

“We expect full consequentials from this additional funding and need urgent clarification to provide clarity for Scottish businesses and NHS Scotland to ensure we can respond effectively. “The Barnett consequentials announced today are in line with the assumptions that underpinned the Scottish

Budget and Budget Bill passed by the Scottish Parliament last week. While this funding is welcome, our resource budget is still lower in real terms than it was in 2010/11.”