The Association of Scottish Self-Caters have released the results of their ongoing survey, which has found that only 4% of self-caterers who have applied for business support grants have had their request for help granted. The self-catering sector is worth £732 million to the Scottish economy, however the lack of support and clarity has left Scottish self-caterers feeling “deeply pessimistic” about the future of their business over the next year. The survey reported the following finds:

• Self-caters are experiencing severe difficulties in access grants form local authorities
• Only 4% of respondents have had their application approved.
• Self-caterers have reported confusion regarding the eligibility criteria from the Scottish Government, its interpretation by local authorities, as well as the application process being cumbersome and bureaucratic.
• Respondents have highlighted that some local authorities are not processing applications from self-catering accommodation until further guidance is issued from the Scottish Government
• The overwhelming majority of self-caterer respondents have no knowledge of the appeal process, however most have had no result from their application so have no grounds to appeal
• Due to difficulties with accessing support, a large majority of Self-Caterers are deeply pessimistic about the future of the business over the next 6-12 months.

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