Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 09 December 2020
It is a tale of two responses: one by the SNP-led Scottish Government for businesses in Scotland, and the other by the Tory-led Government for businesses where it has control. In Scotland, £2.8 billion was deployed quickly to many struggling businesses. Sectors that were hit particularly hard, such as hospitality, retail and leisure, were given rates relief of 100 per cent. Quite rightly, the Tories did the same for English businesses in those sectors.
All four countries were covered by the furlough scheme, which was funded by the UK Government’s borrowing of money. Furlough money is very welcome, but it is not a gift—neither to the people of any UK nation nor from the UK Government to any of the devolved Governments. In the end, it is paid for by taxpayers—those in Scotland as well as in other UK nations. Independent countries across Europe have their own furlough schemes; if Scotland were one of them, we too would have had our own.
I turn to differences in approach. In Scotland, support was made available not only to businesses that had to close; it was used to capture more types of business than were eligible for support in England—in particular, supply chain businesses and sole traders. Those funds include the strategic framework business fund and the local authority discretionary fund.
Other specific sectors have been helped, with, for example £17 million for the seafood and fishing sector, and an £11 million contingency fund for soft-play businesses that did not qualify for other grants. Grants were provided to businesses that were required by law to close, and to those that had to modify their operations in order to stay open. The small business bonus scheme continues to be a lifeline for small high street retailers, who have seen their income drop significantly. Three quarters of businesses with premises in Scotland have rates relief.
Might that need to be expanded? Yes. However, those who heard me ask Kate Forbes that question will also have heard that, to do it, consequentials would be needed from similar actions in England. Asking the Scottish Government to commit to spending in 2022, given that it has no idea of its budget, nor of the cost of Brexit, is complete fantasy.
Like many MSPs, I am advocating on behalf of businesses that have not qualified for support but which have still been hit very hard. I am confident that Kate Forbes will work with me, as she has with many MSPs across the chamber. I am encouraged by today’s announcement of a further £185 million of additional business support, and the targeted support that she has outlined for events, hair and beauty, venues, travel agents, coach operators and others. That support has been advocated for by SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Tory members, and Alex Rowley was absolutely right to say that we all have a duty to do what we can collectively to save jobs.
However, it is in helping the many self-employed people that Scotland’s finance and economy ministers have taken a markedly different approach from that of the UK Chancellor. Self-employed people are reliant on the contents of their tax returns up to April 2019 to be eligible for any UK Government support. If they became self-employed after that date—I have many friends in that situation—they will have to apply for universal credit; in effect, they will be plunged into penury. In Scotland, we have addressed that with the newly self-employed hardship fund. Phase 1 has already delivered vital emergency support to people, and additional support of £15 million will be made available in the second phase.
I would have been far more impressed by Maurice Golden if, instead of asking for rates relief, which he knows the Government cannot commit to, he got behind asking for targeted help for the many sole traders and freelancers who have been left behind. Many of them are women, incidentally. Many of them have lost everything and are working in alternative minimum-wage jobs or are signing on to get by. However, I guess that those people do not vote Tory.
17:15