BORDERS MP John Lamont has called on the Scottish Government to ‘speed up’ and give cash to local companies who need coronavirus support.

The Conservative member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk says a leaked document from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) shows only seven of 30 business funds announced by Holyrood are currently active.

And he claims the government has “only published evidence of £6 million out of approximately £300 million reaching businesses”.

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He said: “We need to see these business funds open now. You can’t keep industries closed and expect them to survive without funding.

“A lot of these business funds support vital sectors in the Borders such as tourism and events and were announced weeks ago.

“The UK Government has delivered billions to the Scottish Government to help the economy.

“They must get it out the door and into those in need immediately before it is too late.”

Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton, the representative for Ettrick, Roxburghshire and Berwickshire, said: “The SNP must ensure that businesses are receiving vital funding now, there simply isn’t any time to waste.”

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And Scottish Borders Council leader Shona Haslam, also of the Conservatives, said: “Local councils are responsible for distributing 13 business funds, but only two are open.

“We are still waiting for guidance for the other 11, even though some of them were announced back at the beginning of December. Meanwhile businesses are struggling.

“Councils are desperate to get money out, but their hands are tied.”

However, a Scottish Government spokesperson told the Border Telegraph that the Conservatives’ claims are “completely untrue”.

They added: “We have allocated over £3 billion to help businesses since the start of this pandemic and between October and December alone, £55 million was paid to firms.

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“The latest figures released on Friday also show that funds paid out 383,000 awards for businesses between March and October.

“That figure will be substantially exceeded in the month of January, with payments of £2,000 or £3,000 being made to tens of thousands of eligible businesses from the Strategic Framework Business Fund.

“Under the fund, businesses will automatically receive these payments every four weeks while closure restrictions apply.

“There are also further top-up grants for hospitality, retail and leisure businesses and grants to individual sectors like taxi drivers.

“We are acutely aware that this support can never compensate for the full impact on business, but we will continue to work closely with the business organisations and business community across Scotland, within the resources that are available to us, to protect businesses and build a stronger recovery for Scotland.”