Fishing chiefs have accused the Scottish Government of neglecting the north-east’s “declining” processing industry in the face of a massive business rates bill.
The criticism has come after Finance Minister Derek Mackay rejected calls to retain a 12.5% relief package for the next 12 months.
Firms had been given a stay of execution from the controversial revaluation for a year but they are just months away from being hit with their new bills.
And with the scheme due to lapse in April, companies are readying themselves to bear the full brunt of the rises, with some businesses looking at as much as a 600% increase.
Aberdeen City Council had written to the minister urging him to retain the cap but Mr Mackay said there were “no plans” to extend the scheme.
He advised the authority’s finance committee that it should use delegated powers to introduce its own relief.
Last night vice-chairman of the Scottish Seafood Association (SSA) Andrew Charles, of Aberdeen-based J Charles, said the government’s rebuke showed it did not “value” the sector.
He said: “These figures have been in the hands of the Scottish Government, in fact SSA did a presentation over a year ago and stated there was a massive problem.
“What this says is that the government doesn’t value fish processing in the north-east of Scotland and it doesn’t appreciate that it is in decline when it should be prospering.”
Meanwhile opposition politicians said the industry was being “left in the lurch” by ministers.
Aberdeen South MP Ross Thomson said: “Over the next three years, Scotland will have the lowest economic growth rate in the developed world.
“Leaving this vital sector in the lurch will cause real hardship for employers and could contribute to Scotland lagging even further behind.”
Meanwhile, the city council co-leader Douglas Lumsden said the minister’s response was “incredibly disappointing”.
Mr Mackay’s letter to the local authority’s chief executive Angela Scott stated: “I can confirm that the Scottish Government has no plans to extend out transitional rate relief scheme to cap 2017-18 bill rises to include additional property types.
“However, as you are aware I created powers under the Community Empowerment Act 2015 to allow councils – who are best place to respond to local industry needs – to create their own local rate relief schemes.
“These wide ranging powers allow councils the flexibility to offer relief to a geographical area, a specific industry or even a sole property should they choose to do so.”
