By Bill Heaney
Beauty therapy and spa treatment business owners are complaining bitterly that they have lost out on business restart grants because they are classified as non-essential retail, which is an inaccuracy that needs to be addressed urgently, according to Pam Gosal, the newly elected List MSP for West of Scotland.
“Will the cabinet secretary [Kate Forbes] agree to ensure that those services are properly reclassified,” Ms Gosal asked.
Kate Forbes told her: “I think that there is some misunderstanding about the restart scheme. Separately from that, we are one of the only places in the UK that put in place a specific funding stream for mobile close-contact services, to try to reach those in what is a predominantly self-employed sector and provide them with additional support.
“In line with the rest of the United Kingdom, we provided the smaller restart grant for businesses that were able to open before others and we reserved the larger restart grant for businesses that restarted later. That remains our position, and I have no intention of changing it.”
Finance MInister Kate Forbes and Conservative MSP Pam Gosal.
LibDem leader Willie Rennie jumped in with a plea for the travel industry.
He said: “They cannot understand why, when they have in effect been shut down for months by the restrictions, they have received very little financial support in return. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the level of restrictions should match the level of financial support that the Government makes available?”
Kate Forbes told MSPs: “Willie Rennie has been an advocate for the travel industry for a number of months. He will recall that we put in place a specific fund for travel agents as well as for the inbound tour sector and the wider tourism sector that relies on international travel. Again, we were one of the few places that did that.
“However, I absolutely understand that some sectors are being impacted for longer because of a lack of international travel. I know that, more than anything, the sector wants the restrictions to be lifted, and we intend to do that on a four-nations basis as far as possible.
“In the meantime, providing additional support is challenging, because of a lack of additional consequential funding.”
She added: “However, Ivan McKee, the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, has written to the UK Government specifically on the travel industry’s need for additional business support and to ask the UK Government to consider whether additional consequentials could be made available to support the sector.”
It was pointed out that today is a day of action at the airports.
“Sadly, the route from Aberdeen to Manchester is now to close. Is the Government prepared to meet the airports to discuss a plan so that jobs can be saved,” asked Tess White MSP.
Kate Forbes told her: “Since the pandemic first hit last March, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport has regularly met the airport sector and the wider aviation sector, and we remain in close contact with them.
“Again, we were one of the few parts—if not the only part—of the UK to extend non-domestic rates relief to the airport industry in light of the challenges that it faces. We will continue to keep in close contact with the airports.
“I know that, ultimately, they want the restrictions to be removed. We want to do that on a four-nations basis when it is safe to do so and when we see that the vaccination programme is making good progress across the world.”