The First Minister has announced a £34 million hardship fund for newly self-employed Scots to support them through the coronavirus crisis.
Self-employed people who have previously fallen through the cracks in the government’s Covid-19 support schemes can apply for grants of £2,000 from today.
The Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund is open to those facing hardship who are not eligible for other support because they have become self-employed in the last year.
The sum is part of three new funds for businesses totalling £100 million announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during Thursday’s daily Holyrood press briefing.
She said: “Today, three new business support funds which total £100m will open for applications. They’re part of a wider packet of measures to support business which are worth £2.3bn in total.
“The lack of support for newly self-employed people is something that has been much commented on, so I’m glad we’re able to do something now to give assistance.”
As well as support for the self employed, a £20 million fund will be made available to small and micro enterprises in the creative, tourism and hospitality sectors.
The Creative, Tourism and Hospitality Enterprises Hardship will provide grants of up to £25,000 for smaller companies who do not benefit from business rates relief. The grants will be managed by the government’s enterprise agencies, with support from Creative Scotland and Visit Scotland.
In addition, £45 million has been announced for the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund, to support vulnerable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which the government deems as vital to Scotland’s economic future, or to the economies of local areas throughout the country.
Nicola Sturgeon highlighted the significance of this fund, adding: “This particular fund is a really important way to try and safeguard our economic future and potential, by ensuring smaller companies with lots of potential are not driven out of business during this crisis.”
Funds are available to apply for from 2pm on Thursday and local authorities and Scotland’s enterprise agencies will administer grants to successful applicants in the “next couple of weeks”.
More detail on eligibility for the grants can be found here.
Live coronavirus updates from across Scotland:
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe