The provision of Scottish Government Covid support grants to businesses in Moray is “mired in confusion”, Scottish Conservative politicians have said.
Moray Council is administering grant schemes on behalf of the government to help businesses cope with the impact of the pandemic.
However, concerns have been raised that the local authority is struggling with a lack of guidance provided by the Scottish Government, along with demands for updates on a wide range of different funds at different times.
It has been suggested that Scottish Ministers have frequently announced grant schemes before details are provided to councils, while those details are then subject to revision with no further update.
Moray Council has no additional staff to help cope with the growing demand and an increasing administrative burden.
Scottish Conservative MP for Moray Douglas Ross said:
“We know that the SNP government has been far too slow to get funding from the UK Government out the door to the businesses and people that need it.
“But now we hear that local delivery of the multiple grant schemes is mired in confusion.
“Moray Council will be working extremely hard to process these grants and get the money out to businesses that sorely need it.
“But that job is being made a lot more difficult due to a lack of guidance from the government on how the schemes will operate – which then appears to be subject to change.
“This is not good enough and I would urge Scottish Ministers to work with council leaders in Moray and elsewhere in the country to simplify this process.”
Scottish Conservative group leader on Moray Council Tim Eagle said:
“We know that 12 new funding schemes have been announced in January alone, some of which are not even open yet.
“That is on top of all the other funds from different government departments – all of which appear to have different rules that can then be subject to change.
“It is a very complex system for the council to navigate – particularly when there is a lack of guidance and no extra resources to help cope with the increased workload.
“Obviously, the council wants to get the support out to those that need it as quickly as possible.
“But that is easier said than done when there is such confusion about how these systems are supposed to work.”
