RISHI Sunak has offered a £1 billion support package to businesses hit by Covid restrictions amid concerns over the “eye-wateringly high” transmission of the Omicron variant - with just £80 million set to come to Scotland. 

The UK Chancellor has come forward with additional help for the hospitality and leisure sectors in England following days of urgent lobbying from MPs, firms and industry officials.

It includes one-off grants of up to £6000 per premises for businesses in the affected sectors in England, which the Treasury expects will be administered by local authorities and to be available in the coming weeks.

READ MORE: What time is Nicola Sturgeon speaking today - how to watch Covid update

The Government also intends to use taxpayers’ cash to cover the cost of statutory sick pay for Covid-related absences for firms with fewer than 250 employees.

Cultural organisations in England can also access a further £30m funding during the winter via the culture recovery fund, the Treasury said.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive around £150m of funding through the Barnett formula as part of the support announced, the department added.

This includes around £80m for the Scottish Government, £50m for the Welsh Government and £25m for the Northern Ireland Executive.

It comes after a row over Covid support cash announced by the Treasury last week, which turned out to be an advance on already budgeted cash for 2022.

Following the announcement, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon retweeted an SNP staffer who cited a BBC report pointing out that this is “not a huge amount of money coming to Scotland” – and added it’s not new money either.

And during her announcement on Covid restrictions in Holyrood, she added: "Unfortunately, it would appear that this announcement generates no further funding for Scotland and that any consequentials are contained within previous announcements by the Treasury."

In that statement the First Minister sought to reassure Scottish businesses over the level of support being provided - announcing a further £100m had been sourced from within the Budget to go along with the advance cash.

"This will involve difficult decisions but the impact of the current crisis on business is such that we consider it essential," she told viewers.

"Taken together, this adds up to a fund of £375m that will help support business for the unavoidable impacts of our decisions over the next 3 weeks. This is significantly more - proportionately - than the Chancellor has announced for the UK as a a whole."

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Meanwhile in England, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour “will be going through the details” of the new measures for businesses - adding the Government had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to announce them.

“Support is welcome but we will be going through the details of this announcement to see which business and workers are included and excluded,” she tweeted.

“But Government have been dragged kicking and screaming here … in fact, the Chancellor was dragged back kicking and screaming from California when this support should have been announced alongside Plan B.

“This is a holding package from a Government in a holding pattern.

“The PM continues to be too distracted by revolt from Tory backbenchers to act in the public interest.

“Businesses and workers are crying out for clarity on what restrictions are down the road as many continue to be hit hard. The Government must bring some certainty now.”

READ MORE: Covid Scotland LIVE: Nicola Sturgeon gives Omicron restrictions update

Business groups welcomed the new package, but warned that more might be needed if ministers tighten restrictions.

“We are pleased that the Chancellor heard our call for additional grant funding for hospitality and leisure businesses, which will provide some much-needed support in the face of this increasingly difficult trading period,” said British Chambers of Commerce director general Shevaun Haviland.

“Clarity and speed will be needed to ensure that these grants are paid out swiftly to help these hard-pressed firms weather the next few weeks.

“Whilst these measures are a positive starting point, if restrictions persist or are tightened further, then we would need to see a wider support package, equal to the scale of any new measures, put in place.”

However there was a different view among some trade unions.

The TUC's general secretary Frances O’Grady said the package had "abandoned" staff, adding: “Workers need help now to pay their bills. But the economic support measures announced today are not conditional on employers keeping workers on and covering their wages. And they do nothing to fix the gaping holes in our sick pay system.

“The Government has abandoned hospitality, arts and leisure staff.

“Millions of workers will go into Christmas worrying for their jobs and anxious about what they will do if asked to self-isolate.

“The Chancellor must go back to the drawing board. We need a new targeted furlough scheme that covers at least 80% of workers’ wages, and that guarantees that no-one furloughed is paid less than the minimum wage.”