The Scottish Government has now offered support to the estimated 37,000 taxi drivers in the country.
The government announced that taxi drivers and operators in Scotland will receive up to an additional £62 million of funding, bringing the total support for the sector during the pandemic to more than £90 million.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said: ““We have announced up to a further £62 million for taxi drivers across Scotland and up to £12 million for businesses in Level 2 areas to ensure they have support as we continue to keep the virus under control.”
Unite Scotland says the support is way short of the measures that the SNP promised in their manifesto. They say that drivers were promised a second £1500 payment and operators were promised grants of £10,000. Instead the figures confirmed today are significantly less.
Unite has repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to deliver a £10,000 grant for each taxi operator irrespective of size, which is the equivalent support being given to all other small business owners. Unite has also drawn attention to the ‘postcode lottery’ effecting support for the taxi trade as local authorities have offered different support through discretionary funding. Glasgow as the nation’s largest city has offered no ‘top-up’ discretionary support.
Pat Rafferty, Unite Scottish Secretary, said: “Support is desperately needed and welcome but this is a sector that has been failed once again. We have regularly brought this to the attention of Ministers and indeed the First Minister regarding the lack of support. The pleas of many within the trade have been ignored.”
“This announcement falls way short for the vast majority of operators who manage less than ten cabs, and who continue to face high fixed costs at a time when the trade remains in crisis. The Scottish Government have rowed back on their manifesto commitments and Unite will continue to fight for a substantial and long-term financial solution to the crisis our members face in the taxi trade.”
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