CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has been accused of performing an “embarrassing U-turn” and “short-changing” Scotland after he announced a £4.6 billion aid package to help businesses through the latest lockdown, saying it included £375 million extra for Scottish firms.

However, the Holyrood Government insisted the money was not new while Scottish Labour accused the Treasury of swiftly reneging on a promise.

In response to the latest tougher Covid-19 restrictions, Mr Sunak said more than 600,000 retail, hospitality and leisure sites across the UK would be able to claim a one-off grant of up to £9,000 as part of a £4bn aid package. A further £594m was announced for local authorities and devolved administrations to support businesses not eligible for the grants.

The Treasury said the new money would mean the Scottish Government would receive £375m, the Welsh Government £227m and the Northern Ireland Executive £127m.

The Chancellor said: “This will help businesses to get through the months ahead and, crucially, it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”

But Kate Forbes, the Scottish Finance Secretary, admitted to being “both surprised and disappointed” to discover the funding was not new and would in fact form part of cash that had already been announced by the UK Government.

The Scottish Government said the money was part of funds already guaranteed by the Treasury to the devolved administrations - expected to total £8.6bn for Scotland in this financial year - which had been previously announced and most of which had already been budgeted by Edinburgh.

“We are both surprised and disappointed that the UK Government’s announcement of additional funding for businesses in England will not – despite the initial indications – generate further new funding for the Scottish Government or other devolved administrations,” declared Ms Forbes.

“This is a blow to Scottish businesses, whose expectations had been raised by the announcement, and I will be writing to the Chancellor to raise the issue.”

She added: “We fully understand that while the tight new restrictions now in force are necessary to slow spread of the virus, they represent another blow for businesses.

“That is why we have allocated £570m since October to helping businesses, and this sum will rise due to the number of new businesses eligible for support under the latest lockdown restrictions.”

On Twitter, Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Government’s Economy Secretary, also noted: “In the morning the UK Gov declare new funding will come to Scotland and by lunchtime the Treasury have told the Scottish Government there is nothing new for Scottish businesses. They can’t treat Scotland’s businesses like this.”

A similar sentiment was expressed by Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s finance spokeswoman, who said: “It only took the Tory Government a matter of minutes to renege on its commitment of additional funding for Scotland on top of the UK-wide support scheme announced today.

“This is an embarrassing U-turn that leaves Scottish businesses and workers short-changed.

“It’s time for the UK Government to honour its original statement and provide the additional funds for devolved nations and regions on top of the UK-wide funding package,” she added.

Her party pointed out how on Tuesday morning, the UK Government announced a UK-wide business support scheme with £375m provided to the Scottish Government “on top of the increased funding which has already been guaranteed”.

Yet minutes later, the statement had been changed on the Treasury website to state that the £375m provided to Edinburgh instead would “contribute to the funding which has already been guaranteed by the UK Government”.

Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, appeared to concede that the funding was not new but he urged the Scottish Government to use the £8.6bn made available by Whitehall to support businesses north of the border.

“As throughout this crisis, the UK Government’s priority remains to keep people safe and support jobs in all parts of the UK.

“The Chancellor has set out additional support for businesses in England. We hope the Scottish Government uses some of the £8.6 billion we have provided to support struggling Scottish businesses similarly.

“This is on top of the direct UK Government support for people and businesses in Scotland, including our furlough scheme now extended to the end of April, self-employed support, business loans and procuring and paying for millions of doses of the Pfizer and Oxford vaccines.”

He added: “The strength of the Union and support offered by the UK Treasury has never been more important.”

Mr Sunak, meanwhile, signalled that further support for firms and workers affected by the coronavirus crisis this year could be announced in his March 3 Budget.

Asked about complaints that the support package did not go far enough and if he would extend the furlough scheme further and increase statutory sick pay, the Chancellor replied: “We’re having a Budget early in March, and all of our economic support, including the announcement today, runs through to this spring.

“So, the Budget in early March is an excellent opportunity to take stock of the range of support that we’ve put in place and to set out the next stage of our economic response to coronavirus at that particular time.”