The Chancellor has today announced an additional funding of nearly £600 million to help public services in Scotland respond to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said:

“We have been clear that we will do whatever it takes to help all corners of the UK through this crisis and this additional £600 million will go a long way in helping public services in Scotland respond to the huge challenge they are facing. This comes on top of the substantial coronavirus funding package for Scotland already in place, meaning that Scotland will receive a total cash boost of £3.3 billion to help tackle Coronavirus.

“The coming weeks may be difficult, but we will do everything we can to save lives, protect jobs, support our public services, and back our businesses so they can thrive in the future.”

Business and individuals in Scotland will also benefit from UK-wide support measures. This includes a £330 billion package of loans and guarantees for businesses, access to the Job Retention Scheme and support for the self-employed. The UK military is providing both the Scottish Government and the NHS with additional specialist skills and expertise and on Friday the Health Secretary announced the UK-wide PPE strategy meaning our heroic front-line workers in Scotland have the protection they need to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Government also expanding testing capacity right across the UK with centres opened recently at Glasgow and Aberdeen airports.

This latest cash boost for Scotland is as a result of the Chancellor further increasing his Budget for the public services fund.

More information on this is here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-provides-over-14-billion-for-our-nhs-and-vital-public-services