Treasury says Scotland received £14.5bn Covid pandemic 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 pandemic, the Scottish Governmenthadreceivedthe 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. The Welsh government received £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 … helping us build back better across the UK.”
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.
“As there is no guarantee on Covid-19 funding in 202122, this may be reduced later in the financial year if Covid-19 spending in England is revised downward.”