The Scottish Government has been accused of “betraying” businesses across the south of Scotland after slashing millions of pounds from the budget of the region’s enterprise budget.
The draft Scottish budget, announced at the end of last year, proposed cutting South of Scotland Enterprise’s budget from £34.5 million in 2023/24 to £27.4 million in the next financial year.
That move came on the back of funding for the agency, which covers Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders, having already been reduced from £37.3 million in 2022/23.
Wellbeing Economy Secretary Neil Gray has now been challenged on the move by Borders Tory MSP Rachael Hamilton.
She highlighted an agreement that SOSE would receive similar funding to Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Ms Hamilton said: “South of Scotland Enterprise was launched four years ago. Since it started, its funding has been cut year on year.
“This year, it was cut to £34.5 million, which was down nearly £3 million. Next year its funding will be slashed to £24.7 million.
“The promise has been broken of a fair share per capita of population equivalent to the funding of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Businesses have been betrayed. Will SOSE be expected to cut its operating and labour costs to ensure that it can deliver its five-year action plan on that budget?”
Mr Gray put the budget cut down to the UK Government.
He replied: “The funding that was provided in the autumn statement fell well short of what we need. Scotland needed more money for infrastructure, public services and pay deals; instead, the autumn statement delivered a real-terms reduction in the block grant.
“It is a bit rich for Conservatives who are pro-austerity to come here and complain about the impact that austerity has on services.
“In that context, we have prioritised funding for the enterprise agencies to the extent that we possibly can. The budget allocates more than £307 million to enterprise agencies.
“If the Conservatives wish to see a change, they are more than welcome to suggest cuts for elsewhere in the budget – or, even better, to persuade their colleagues at Westminster to stop the cuts at source.”
