Scots firms 'close to broke' after waiting months for SNP support to be paid, Ruth Davidson warns

Thousands of businesses risk going bust when Scotland enters lockdown again on Boxing Day unless Nicola Sturgeon dramatically speeds up the delivery of her government's support, Ruth Davidson has warned.

Ms Davidson disclosed that 15,000 firms were still waiting for financial health unveiled by SNP ministers five months ago and accused Ms Sturgeon of treating business like an "afterthought."

Speaking at First Minister's Questions, she said there was a pattern of multi-million pound support schemes being announced in a blaze of publicity only for the beneficiaries not getting the money in their bank accounts for many months.

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Ms Davidson warned Ms Sturgeon this could not continue in the new lockdown, starting on Saturday, citing warnings from a series of business owners that they were "bleeding money" and "close to broke".

The First Minister said Kate Forbes, the Finance Secretary, was "urgently" reviewing what additional support could be made available in the new lockdown.

But Ms Davidson said "warm words" and "platitudes" were not sufficient and challenged the First Minister to get "money out of the door without any further delay."

The exchanges at Holyrood came as Gary Gillespie, the Scottish Government's chief economist, warned Scotland's GDP will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2023 even if restrictions are gradually eased over the first half of next year.

But he said this could take even longer with a "slow or ineffective vaccination programme" or Brexit-related disruption. He also used his monthly update to warn consumer confidence to spend was at a record low.

On Boxing Day all of mainland Scotland will be placed in Level 4 restrictions - the highest tier in Scotland's system and the equivalent of almost full lockdown - for an initial three weeks.

However, Ms Sturgeon has admitted she does not know when it will end and she is planning to toughen up the lockdown. This could include Scots being told to stay home again and garden and DIY stores shutting in addition to other non-essential shops.

Although SNP ministers have been handed billions of pounds by the UK Treasury to support businesses through the pandemic, they have faced intense business criticism over the slow speed at which the funding is being paid out.

Steve Barclay, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, handed the SNP government another £400 million "to support people and businesses."

Ms Davidson said most people understand the need for the "painful restrictions" but Ms Sturgeon had a responsibility to mitigate the economic damage they wreak.

She said: "We keep hearing the same thing — these multi-million pound support schemes may sound good when they’re announced, but their delivery is opaque, confusing and slow.

“It’s not good enough and won’t cut it for those whose jobs depend on getting the urgent help they need. The SNP should understand that hand-wringing and platitudes will not pay the wage bill or keep the lights on."

Ms Davidson that there were still 15,404 applications to be processed for funding under the Scottish Government's small business, retail, hospitality and leisure grant schemes despite them closing on July 10.

As of Dec 2, SNP ministers had only handed out £6.4 million of a £30.5 million Strategic Framework Business Fund. More than 4,000 applications were still to be processed.

Ms Sturgeon said she knew the extra period of closure would be "very difficult to bear" for many, saying that "if I thought there was another way to do this, I would grasp it in a heartbeat".

The First Minister said support schemes were open now and "every penny" of funding available was being allocated, but said she had to "look ahead and make sure we are budgeting to get us through the remainder of the financial year".

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said shops had been left "reeling" by the pandemic and need grants paid swiftly to "keep afloat."

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