UK Government Must Not U-turn on Promised £70 Million for Scotland

That the Parliament notes that, on 2 May 2020, the UK Government announced a £617 million extension to business grants, which it advised would generate £60 million of funding consequentials under the Barnett Formula to help businesses across Scotland weather the COVID-19 crisis; recognises that such funding was then duly committed by the Scottish Government to its COVID-19 business response; understands that the UK Government subsequently informed the Scottish Government in the week of 18 May that this additional £60 million of funding would not now materialise, increasing the pressure on the Scottish budget; considers that this outstanding £60 million is in addition to another £10 million of consequentials that remain unpaid from when the UK Government announced £35 million for Scotland in respect of charity support direct grants, which then reduced to £25 million; expresses great concern at what it sees as the UK Government’s pattern of behaviour of not paying Scotland the funds it is entitled to while equivalent funding is being spent elsewhere in the UK, as well as what it perceives to be a cavalier attitude towards Scotland’s finances and the Scottish Government’s need for certainty amidst a deadly pandemic, and urges the UK Government to pass on the £70 million of Barnett consequentials to the Scottish Government without further delay so that the people of Scotland receive the support previously pledged in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.