Budget will be boost for region
The economy of Perth and Kinross - and of that of the whole UK - will benefit from a range of positive measures rolled out in the chancellor’s budget, which was announced last week.
Rishi Sunak highlighted just how serious the financial impact of COVID is, and, as a result, he set out a series of steps which will hopefully create a stable economy in Scotland and the rest of the UK as we come out of lockdown and return to some form of normality.
The measures, which will help businesses in Perth and Kinross, included extending the extremely beneficial furlough scheme until the autumn and increasing the amount of Universal Credit by £20 a week – a move that the Scottish Conservatives had called for.
The chancellor also confirmed that more grants will be available to the self-employed and he unveiled a mortgage guarantee scheme to help Britons get on the housing ladder with small deposits.
Under this scheme, the government will offer lenders a guarantee, incentivising them to boost the number of riskier 95 per cent mortgages.
The UK budget also saw an extension of the VAT cut to hospitality continuing until September at five per cent as well as the setting up of a recovery loan scheme for businesses and the freezing of fuel duty and also on all alcohol duties, including whisky, which is vital to Scotland with 11,000 jobs protected as a result.
Other measures that will benefit Scotland include a £150 million community buy scheme which could allow communities to take over struggling pubs, sport clubs and theatre venues and a £520m Help to Grow scheme, offering management training for firms to boost productivity, as well as providing £34m towards various projects in north east Scotland.
Another major announcement made as part of the budget was a new UK Infrastructure Bank , which will provide loans that can be tailored to support the needs of renewable energy and carbon storage projects, and I believe the creation of this bank will provide significant benefits to Scotland.
The timing of this announcement couldn’t have been better, being made ahead of the UK hosting the climate change COP Conference in Glasgow in November.
The UK Infrastructure Bank promises to give a massive boost to green infrastructure projects in Scotland and across the UK.
It will mean that the bank will be able to offer equity, loans and guarantees which will support the needs of private sector infrastructure projects in sectors including energy, carbon capture and storage and transportation.
In addition, the bank will also offer infrastructure loans to local authorities at low rates which will help fund a range of projects right across the UK.
Scotland will benefit significantly from this move as it comes at a pivotal time for the country as we move forward with our aims to tackle climate change and tackle environmental issues in the country.
Businesses across Perth and Kinross have all suffered from the devastating financial impact of this pandemic but hopefully many of these measures outlined in the UK budget will go some way to protect jobs and livelihoods as we look to rebuild the economy.