£11.5m given to support Glasgow’s hospitality businesses

The City Council’s licensing department has been working to administer various grants on behalf of the Scottish Government to licensed premises since late December/early January.

An update was presented to the licensing forum on Tuesday afternoon.

Graeme Ross, licensing standards officer, at Glasgow City Council, said: “We have been heavily involved in working with the government around the roll out of the various grant schemes that were announced in late December early January.

“To date, over the last five weeks we have paid just over £11.5 million to businesses in the city and that includes just over 1100 hospitality businesses. Another 1330 venues have benefited from the hospitality and leisure top up fund.

“At the tail end of last week we received guidance from the Scottish Government about the public house table fund and have been able to get that rolled out. Payments for that will land in bank accounts probably at the end of this week or the start of next week for the 29 businesses who were eligible.”

The local authority has also worked with the Scottish Government to distribute the nightclub closure fund who instructed the council to make payments based on the information provided.

Donald MacLeod, chairman of the licensing forum, said: “Thank you to you and your department. It has been an enviable task dropped on you last minute to get these millions out to people who are really desperate. The sooner it lands in their bank accounts the better.”