KATE Forbes has been accused of offering too little too late to businesses on the brink of collapse after she unveiled £185 million of support – but it won't be available until January.

Scotland’s Finance Secretary told MSPs that funding already passed onto the Scottish Government from Westminster will now be allocated - but £300 million will be held back as "contingency".

Ms Forbes said the £185 million pot of funding will be handed out on a “sector by sector basis so that it is appropriately targeted”.

Hospitality businesses, such as pubs and restaurants, will also be offered one-off payments of either £2,000 or £3,000 in January to help them mitigate the traditional post-Christmas dip in demand.

READ MORE: Coronavirus Scotland: £185m business support funding unveiled

Included in the £185 million, is £60 million for the tourism sector – details of which are yet to be set out.

The funding will include £15 million for the wedding sector and supply chains including photographers, one-off grants totalling £15 million for mobile close contact services, such as hairdressers and a £19 million fund and one-off grants for taxi drivers.

A £5 million fund will be made available to travel agents along with almost £6 million for coach companies and tour operators and £1.5 million for visitor attractions.

The Scottish Government has also made £1.5 million available to “travelling show people ineligible of other support”.

Ms Forbes said: “We have listened to businesses and this assistance will be provided on a sector-by-sector basis, targeted at those who need it most.

“We are developing grant schemes for hospitality, for the events sector, live music and cultural venues, for the arts, indoor football centres and for the food and drink sector, including £1.8 million for brewers.”

But business leaders have lashed out at the announcement – insisting the lack of support in the lead-up to the Christmas period will do little to help sectors already in trouble having been forced to close their doors during the pandemic.

Director of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association, Colin Wilkinson, said the Scottish Government “needs to get a serious grip on the reality of the cataclysmic devastation” facing the sector.

He added: “The Finance Secretary’s ‘Christmas gift’ of £2,000 or £3,000, although we will have to wait until January to get it, will at least help pay some of the recent extra lockdown costs incurred by many of Scotland’s pubs and bars – so the one-off grant has gone even before we get it.

“The announcement of a £60 million fund for the tourism sector, the details of which will be developed in consultation with the industry, will we hope include those organisations at the coalface of representing the licensed hospitality sector which is a major contributor to Scotland’s overall tourism industry.

“Some sectors supported by this new package have done better than the licensed hospitality industry and this only raises the question of why there is such disproportionality between the level of support given and the size of the sector needing financial aid. We accept that all businesses need support but surely any financial support should be directed to those hardest hit and in most need.”

Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses’ Scotland policy chair, has welcomed the support.

He added: “While we’d like to have seen a speedier and more systematic approach to supporting local businesses crushed by the crisis, we’re pleased that ministers have seen the light following representations.

“However we’re now left with a myriad of schemes at various stages of delivery, with much of the cash unlikely to reach firms until the new year. In the future, we need to see policymakers in Edinburgh deliver help for local businesses at the same pace as they implement restrictions on the economy.”

Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said the additional help “will be cold comfort to many businesses who have so little cash left they have only weeks to survive”.

She added: “We are not convinced that the urgency of the need to pay our rent and other costs are fully understood.

“For many, January will be too late to save business owners, their families and their employees from economic ruin. This should be the top priority for all organisations who are going to be involved in supporting businesses.’’