Fife Council urged to expand PPE funding scheme for businesses

MSP Willie Rennie MSP and MP Wendy Chamberlain are calling on Fife Council to reintroduce a grant that is designed to help small business with PPE costs. Small businesses in Fife’s main Town Centres were until recently able to apply for a £100 grant towards the cost of public health and safety measures required to reopen safely and cope with Covid-19.

Following concerns raised by local residents and businesses who were not given the grant, the LibDem Parliamentarians are calling for Fife Council to re-open applications for the grant and to expand its remit.

Crispin Willies, owner of the Smoke Fired Whole Foods Shop, said: “I see no reason why Fife Council could not provide this grant to all businesses instead of just the town centres. There is no difference between the businesses re-opening in our town centres from the business re-opening in our rural communities. We are all trying to re-open safely, to make a living and to provide services to our customers.

“We are a big shop even if we are in a small village, as big if not bigger than many of the small shops in towns that qualify and have had to spend hundreds of pounds on COVID protection equipment. The size of the town and location of the business should not be the only consideration as to who does and does not get support.

“I hope they change their mind, re-open applications and provide for all businesses.”

Willie Rennie said: “This grant goes a long way to helping businesses keep residents safe and is welcome. However, it should not be reserved to those only in town centres and should be available to smaller businesses in our rural communities too.

“Fife Council must re-open applications and make it available for all businesses who intend to open to the public. This is a matter of safety as well as protecting our local economy.

Wendy Chamberlain added: “Businesses in the rural part of Fife are not asking for much, only to for parity between themselves and businesses in our town centres. They want to re-open safely, but they have also been closed for months and simply want the same support other businesses are receiving.”

Gordon Mole, head of business and employability at Fife Council, said the scheme has supported 240 businesses. He added: “The scheme has proved extremely popular with businesses taking up grants to the full initial allocation within ten days. Due to demand, the scheme has been reopened for further businesses to apply.

“The grant is one of several measures in place, to enable businesses to attract customers back to towns, funded by the Scottish Government Towns Resilience Fund, and as such funding support is centred on towns, therefore rural businesses were not eligible for this funding but we will look at further funding opportunities for supporting businesses.”