Over £45 Million Funding Reaches Edinburgh To Tackle Impact Of COVID-19

The City of Edinburgh has received an additional £45.825 million from the Scottish Government to support local services in Edinburgh and tackle the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Local authorities will also receive their fair share of a further £184.8 million which is currently undistributed but will be allocated following parliamentary approval.

The extra funding has also been provided to help offset the drop in revenue that the capital has lost during the pandemic and brings the overall support package to councils over the COVID-19 pandemic to more than £1 billion.

The new figures come after Scotland’s Finance Secretary, Kate Forbes, announced that businesses, including taxi drivers, travel agents and those working in the hospitality sector, across Scotland will benefit from a new £185 million package of targeted coronavirus support.

Commenting, MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, Gordon MacDonald said, “The pandemic has put enormous pressure on households, communities and local services right across Scotland, and it’s right that the Scottish Government has ensured our capital has more funding to deal with this.

“This funding boost is supporting access to food, welfare payments and frontline services, and is just one way the Scottish Government is providing to individuals and businesses to protect jobs and incomes.

“There’s even more cash to come – and if we all stick together, and continue following the rules in the coming months, we will beat this pandemic.”