Scotland has received £ 14.5 billion in UK government funding for decentralized administrations, new figures from the Treasury show.

The annual Block Grant Transparency publication shows that since the onset of Covid-19, the funding has enabled the Scottish government to provide support to individuals, businesses and public services and will continue to support the recovery until 2021-2022 .

It is part of the program to support the whole of the UK throughout the pandemic, with £ 352 billion spent across the UK on Covid-19 measures.

In Scotland, this included protecting over 900,000 jobs through the leave scheme, £ 294million in self-employment support, business support and the purchase of vaccines.

Chief Treasury Secretary Steve Barclay said: ‘We have protected over a million Scottish jobs and businesses with leave and support programs, our vaccine rollout unlocks the economy and our plan for jobs increases opportunities and helps us to rebuild. better across the UK.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: “This broad support, which now allows us to envision recovery, shows how Scotland benefits from being part of a strong UK. Never has the value of the Union been more important or more apparent.

Separately, UK Export Finance’s annual report and accounts also found that its £ 12.3 billion supported Scottish exporters throughout the year, supporting trade with 77 countries.

The main UKEF-supported export contracts in Scotland during the year include:

• FoundOcean, a grouting specialist based in Livingstone, which received bond support from UKEF for a $ 3 million contract to supply an offshore wind farm in Taiwan, creating 30 new jobs at the company.
• GE Caledonian, a supplier of jet engines for commercial aircraft, has received four loans worth £ 248million guaranteed by UKEF to finance overhaul of engines designed at Prestwick for export.
• Glasgow-based manufacturer PCT Group has been awarded a multi-million pound contract to supply cranes for the new Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm in Scotland as part of UKEF’s bond support program.
• Canwarth-based family-owned manufacturer BHC has been awarded a £ 20million contract to supply steel framing and steel decking to a commercial market in Ghana, after being introduced to the project by UKEF.

UKEF also pledged in December to end its support for new fossil fuel projects abroad. As part of this commitment, UKEF has created a new 20-person Renewable Energy, Energy and Carbon Management underwriting team.

To ensure that exporters in Scotland’s industrial hubs can benefit, UKEF has also launched a new Transitional Export Development Guarantee, designed to help companies adjust their business models and accelerate their transition from fossil fuels. towards clean energies.

Alistair McMillan, UKEF’s Clean Growth Export Development Manager in Scotland, said: “Despite an extremely difficult year for everyone, it has been great to be able to support a variety of Scottish energy companies. renewables to increase their exports, as well as to introduce our game -change the product of the general export facility. “

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