£25k in grants for Scottish pubs, versus £9k for England's

13-Jan-2021 - Last updated on 13-Jan-2021 at 10:17 GMT

Scottish support: pubs in Scotland can receive more financial support than those in England

Scottish operators are to receive top-up Government support grants of up to £25,000.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes outlined top-up grants for the hospitality, retail and leisure businesses closed by level four restrictions.

She described the support for larger pubs and bars as “considerably more generous” than the latest £9,000 grant available for pubs with high rateable values in England.

Businesses with a rateable value of £51,001 or more are eligible for a one-off payment of £25,000 while smaller hospitality businesses of a rateable value of £51,000 or less are eligible for £6,000.

These grants come in addition to the Strategic Business Framework Fund (SBFF), where hospitality businesses are eligible for grants of between £3,000 and £2,000 every four weeks.

Most hospitality businesses will receive this payment with the next payment of the SBFF on 25 January.

Applications are open for both funds through local authority websites.

Close the gaps

Forbes said: “Crucially this essential funding will also help to close the gaps in UK wide support for these impacted sectors and our one-off support for larger hospitality premises of £25,000 is considerably more generous than the £9,000 grant on offer in England.

“I’d encourage all eligible businesses to apply through their local authority if they have not done so already. Of course we are acutely aware that this support can never compensate for the full impact on business, but we must work within the resources that are available to us, and we continue to respond to the evolving economic challenges arising from the pandemic.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced one-off grants of up to £9,000 for pubs closed in the England’s third national lockdown.

Pubs with a rateable value of £15,000 or under are eligible for funding of £4,000 while those with a rateable value of between £15,000 and £51,000 can claim £6,000 and those with a rateable value of more than £51,000 are eligible for a grant of £9,000.

Sunak has said there will be no additional financial support for business hit by lockdown measures before the Budget on 3 March.