Rishi Sunak is to send additional funding to the Scottish Government to help with the booster vaccine roll-out and with the costs of imposing new restrictions on businesses in the run-up to Christmas.
The UK Chancellor announced the funding in principle - without mentioning a specific sum - just as Nicola Sturgeon was on her feet in Holyrood detailing the re-imposition of social distancing rules for hospitality and retail.
While the First Minister complained that no extra funding was available from the Treasury and that Scottish Government reserves would have to be used to compensate businesses, the Treasury issued a release confirming more cash.
The Chancellor said he would set out the amount of additional funding in the coming days and keep it under review in the following weeks.
Sunak said: “Throughout this pandemic, the United Kingdom has stood together as one family, and we will continue to do so."
He added: “We are working with the governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to drive the vaccine rollout to all corners of the United Kingdom and ensure people and businesses all across the country are supported.”
If the amount of funding provided up front to each devolved administration is more than the Barnett consequentials confirmed at Supplementary Estimates then any extra amount will be repaid in 2022-23, or over the Spending Review period if necessary.
“If the Barnett consequentials are higher than the amount provided up front the devolved administrations will keep the extra funding.
The UK Government has already provided the devolved administrations with an extra £12.6 billion through the Barnett formula this year – this includes £1.3 billion confirmed at the recent Autumn Budget and takes their total funding this year to £77.6 billion.
This is on top of UK Government spending on vaccines and tests for the whole of the UK and UK-wide support for businesses and jobs.
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