Election 2021: 'We’ll speed-up delivery of business support grants', says Inverness and Nairn election candidate Edward Mountain

The Scottish Conservatives have made an election promise to speed-up the delivery of Covid–19 business support grants.

Edward Mountain, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Inverness and Nairn, has said the party has pledged to introduce a 10 working day national standard for business grant processing and a single business support fund.

He said to that this will make sure there isn’t a backlog of applications and businesses left waiting for support.

In December 2020, more than 2000 businesses across the Highlands and Islands waited five months for their first business grants for support schemes that closed to applications on July 10 2020.

Mr Mountain said: “Thanks to the SNP, over 2,000 businesses across the Highlands and Islands waited five months for their first business support grant to be processed last year. That’s nowhere near good enough.

“During the pandemic I was contacted by many Highland business owners, from B&B owners to taxi drivers, who were left waiting excruciatingly long periods of time before they finally received support.

“The SNP delivered support at a snail’s pace and the Scottish Conservatives will ensure that doesn’t happen again.

“That’s why we will introduce a 10 working day national standard for business grant processing."

He added: “Highland businesses should not be treated as an afterthought, their survival and recovery is vital for the future of our local economy. Supporting local businesses and creating jobs is one of my top priorities.”

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