THE SCOTTISH Government has been accused of “a betrayal of workers” amid claims a business growth scheme has only handed out around half of the promised amount to traders.

In 2016, ministers launched the Scottish Growth Scheme worth £500 million to businesses – but new data has revealed only £273 million has been unlocked so far.

The growth scheme was put in place to help open up investment in the public sector and private sector to support businesses, particularly emerging firms in the technology sector, which cannot access traditional help such as from banks.

When announcing the project, Nicola Sturgeon labelled it “a half billion vote of confidence in Scottish business, Scottish workers and the Scottish economy”. But Conservatives have criticised the SNP for failing to act on their promise.

Statistics revealed by Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop show that “as at September 30, 2020, it has unlocked investment of some £273 million in debt and equity for 481 companies”.

The Conservatives said the statistics show the SNP has only managed to deliver £766 on average for each firm in Scotland from the growth scheme.

The Scottish Government said the total has now increased to £285 million and the take-up has been impacted by the fear of a no deal Brexit and the pandemic and is led by demand.

The Tories also claim that with under 500 businesses being handed cash as part of the scheme, only 0.1 of the total traders in Scotland have been helped by the initiative.

Scottish Conservative economy spokesman Maurice Golden, said: “Four years ago, the SNP promised to deliver half a billion pounds to boost the Scottish economy through the Scottish Growth Scheme.

"Now, we discover they have only provided them half of that amount.

"It is even more astonishing to learn that just over 0.1 per cent of businesses have received any of these funds. Why have almost 99.9 per cent of Scottish been abandoned?”

He added: “While the UK Government has provided unprecedented financial support for Scotland throughout the pandemic, the anti-business SNP government has been posted missing.

"This is a betrayal of workers across Scotland, many of whom are fighting to keep their jobs in the pandemic."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Growth Scheme has unlocked £285 million of additional investment for Scottish SMEs which would otherwise not have existed. This important investment is helping to protect and build jobs.

“Demand for the scheme in recent years has been hindered by the prospects of a no deal Brexit, and Covid-19, both of which have had an impact on investment decisions by SMEs but we are of course continuing to support businesses to seek this finance.”