The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he is doubling the amount of money for the Scottish Government to fund measures to tackle Covid.
Sunak said he is providing an extra £430m for the Scottish Welsh and Northern Irish devolved governments taking the total to £860m
He said Scotland will now have £440m to use to fund its own measures in the face of the rising omicron variant cases.
The UK Government said the cash will continue to ensure the devolved administrations can take the Covid precautions they feel are necessary to keep people safe.
Sunak said: “Following discussions with the Devolved Administrations, we are now doubling the additional funding available.
“We will continue to listen to and work with the Devolved Administrations in the face of this serious health crisis to ensure we’re getting the booster to people all over the UK and that people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are supported.”
The Welsh Government will now get £270 million and the Northern Ireland Executive, £150 million.
The cash was announced after a meeting between the UK Government and the three devolved governments.
Earlier this week when it was announced there would be £220m on top of the annual budget, the Scottish Government said it was not enough and was not new money.
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Kate Forbes, Finance Secretary said that Scotland needed £500m based on the previous costs of measure like furlough.
The Chancellor said the money is on top of the £77.6bn he confirmed in the Autumn budget and that the amounts will continue to be kept under review.
Nicola Sturgeon reacted to the announcement and said the cash is not "additional money".
A spokesperson for Nicola Sturgeon said: “The First Minister was utterly incredulous to discover neither the Prime Minister nor the Chancellor were on today’s COBR call. That is three COBR calls in succession that they have not attended.
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“The meeting itself focussed on the mounting figures for the Omicron variant and on the impact the variant will have on staffing across both the public and private sectors. The First Minister made clear that she believed that these serious impacts should not be accepted as inevitable and that we should all focus on action to avoid that happening in the first place.
“Treasury ministers revealed that they were now able to commit to some limited further funding. This is welcome. The reality, however, appears to be that this is not additional and is simply a form of ‘advance’ on funding that would have come to Scotland anyway. We are seeking urgent clarity on this.
“We need more urgency, greater clarity and faster action from the UK. The need is real and the need is now. In the face of the clear advice of public health experts, it is impossible to understand why the UK still refuses to act.”
The funding announcement comes as public health officials indicated that stricter rules may be needed.
Professor Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director said it is better to act sooner while an NHS official actively called for more restrictions.
Speaking to the BBC Sunday Show, Prof. Leitch said: ““The position is worrying, I make no bones about that. This new variant didn’t exist 21 days ago - it’s quite astonishing and it’s happened just before Christmas again.
“Better to act early than later, better to act harder than softer, we’ve learned that over two years I’m afraid.”
While Jillian Evans, head of health intelligence at NHS Grampian, said: “We can’t boost ourselves out in time.
“We need more restrictions now. There are lots of things we can do individually which will make a huge difference but making things more official, and by that I’m talking about curtailing access to certain things, closing certain things, does bring the numbers down and buys us more time for people to be boosted.”
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