Rates relief boost for local newspapers

The Advertiser and its sister local newspapers have received a welcome boost as the Scottish Government announced it is extending rates relief for the whole of the next financial year.

Papers, along with retail, tourism, hospitality and aviation businesses, will pay no rates next year under the new proposals unveiled by finance secretary Kate Forbes after a further £1.1 billion of consequential funding was passed on to the Scottish Government.

The funds, which were made available following UK Government spending on the Covid-19 pandemic, will allow ministers in Scotland to build on the three-month rates relief extension already announced in the Scottish Budget.

Central Scotland MSP, and former journalist, Graham Simpson had secured combined support at the Scottish Parliament for a motion calling on the SNP Government to continue rates relief.

It was supported by all the opposition groups, who combined to defeat the government by one vote to call for the relief to continue during 2021-2022 and for government advertising spend to be“invested in a way that supports innovative journalism and regional and local news”.

John Mclellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, said: “we are both delighted and also relieved that the Scottish Government has accepted the will of Parliament and recognised the massive challenges facing independent news publishing in Scotland.

“This will go a long way to ensuring that titles large and small can survive what remains an extremely precarious financial landscape.”