Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has welcomed the announcement of an extra £1.1billion in Covid-19 support for Scotland from the UK Government.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Steve Barclay announced today (Monday) that the devolved governments would be provided with additional funding.
The £1.1billion takes the total allocated through the Barnett formula to the Scottish Government to £9.7billion since the beginning of the pandemic.
It comes on top of UK wide support including the HMRC Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme – which have paid out billions to cover the wages of furloughed staff or help those that have been prevented from working.
Scottish Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid said:
“This is further evidence of the unprecedented level of support provided by the UK Government to support Scotland through the pandemic.
“Since the beginning of the crisis, the UK Government has done whatever has been necessary to support public services, jobs and businesses here in Scotland.
“The funding to the Scottish Government alone is near £10billion. That comes on top of all the support schemes including the HMRC furlough and self-employment support which has protected jobs here in Banff and Buchan.
“We know from the most recent figures published in January that about 3,600 people in Banff and Buchan are still benefiting from the furlough scheme and that millions have been paid out to the self-employed.
“We are making fantastic progress on vaccinations, with 15million people across the UK having had their first jab already.
“Once the adult population is vaccinated, the next stage will be to start rebuilding our economy. This extra funding will ensure the Scottish Government has the resources it needs to support people, businesses and public services in the coming months.”