Chamber: Gaps in business support
Perthshire Chamber of Commerce has welcomed additional funding from the Scottish Government to help businesses through the coronavirus crisis.
But it warned“gaps”still remained in the package.
Finance secretary Kate Forbes announced on Wednesday that further grants in the region of £220 million are being made available for businesses - including the recently self-employed - to help them deal with the ongoing impact of the outbreak.
The move followed criticism that the Scottish Government had failed to offer the same financial support to businesses than in the rest of the UK.
A statement from the chamber of commerce said:“Perthshire Chamber has been lobbying for additional help for businesses falling through the gaps and not assisted and we welcome the announcement.
“Some gaps remain, and we continue to push for more support.”
The new package of measures includes £120m to extend the small business grant scheme to ensure that, in addition to a 100 per cent grant on the first property, small business ratepayers will be eligible for a 75 per cent grant on all subsequent properties.
A further £100m fund is also being made available to protect selfemployed people and viable micro and SME businesses in distress due to COVID-19. This fund will be channelled through local authorities and enterprise agencies to target newly self-employed people and businesses who are ineligible for other Scottish Government or UK Government schemes.
North Perthshire MSP John Swinney said support from the Scottish Government now exceeded what was on offer from the UK Government.
He added:“This is an unprecedented package of support and I am hopeful that it will offer security and peace of mind to business owners across Perthshire.”
Applications for the £100m fund will be open by the end of the month, and the new arrangements for the small business grant will be in place to receive applications on May 5.