Chancellor Rishi Sunak

Announced in April, the bounce back loans scheme offers between £2,000 and 25% of the turnover of small and medium businesses.

The Treasury has said that business across the entire UK have received government-backed loans during the outbreak – with more than 130,000 firms in devolved nations receiving £4.7bn.

In the case of the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS), over £587 million has been paid out to date, to 2,693 small and medium businesses looking for up to £5m in funding.

The treasury has also revealed that Loan schemes, grants and business rates holidays have supported businesses across all sectors. But the retail, construction and hospitality sectors, including hotels and restaurants, have benefitted the most from the funding.

A total of 17% of loans went to the construction sector, and all retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses benefitted from a 100% business rates holiday - demonstrating how government support helped those businesses that were impacted hardest by the pandemic.

Ahead of a visit to Scotland, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said: “I recently set out the government’s next steps towards economic recovery and securing the UK’s long-term prosperity in our Plan for Jobs. As we embark on this next phase, the latest figures demonstrate that we are continuing to support jobs, incomes, and businesses across every corner of the UK.”

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.