Treasury must speed up system and ensure more grants available.
The SNP has said the roll-out of the UK government emergency business loan scheme is “far too slow” – after new figures from UK Finance revealed just 6,020 loans have been approved since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
With the BBC reporting around just 0.1% of UK businesses have received help, Drew Hendry MP (pictured) called on the UK government to step up and ensure businesses have access to the immediate cash they need to stay afloat.
The SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging the UK government to ensure more direct support, including through grants, to ensure businesses get the cash they need.
Commenting, Drew Hendry MP said:
“The UK government needs to provide the urgent support that businesses need during the coronavirus crisis.
“The roll-out of the emergency loan scheme is far too slow and too many businesses are not getting the cash they require to stay afloat.
“In other European countries support for business has been rolled out far quicker.
“After weeks of waiting, it is time for the Chancellor to step up and provide more direct support – speeding up the process and providing more grants not just loans.
“The SNP welcomed the announcement of the emergency loan scheme as an important first step back in March but it is clear it is not working in practice – and the urgent cash injection that the business community has called for has still not been delivered.
“The 6,020 businesses that have received support are a tiny fraction of the millions of small and medium businesses in the UK.
“Many businesses aren’t getting the urgent cash they need to pay the bills and could go to the wall unless support comes quickly.
“The SNP will continue to press the UK government to ensure businesses to get the support they need during this unprecedented emergency – but it is clear that we need to see much more support delivered without further delay.”
