SMALL businesses are the lifeblood of our economy.

The employment opportunities provided by local enterprises are vital to hard-working families up and down the country. In recent years, businesses in Scotland have had it tough and Scotland continues to lag behind the rest of the UK in terms of the level of employment.

All the while, the uncertainty caused by the sustained threat of a Scottish independence referendum continues to damage business confidence.

Sadly, however, at a time when we should be supporting our businesses, the Scottish Government have hit many with a revaluation of non-domestic rates, which will see some businesses facing extortionate rises in their business rates.

For weeks, the finance secretary, Derek Mackay, has sought to pass the buck for these changes and has insisted that the revaluation has nothing to do with his government. This is a complete abdication of responsibility and is an extremely poor attitude to take towards the hardship that will be faced by small- and medium-sized businesses across Scotland.

After sustained pressure on the government by the Scottish Conservatives, we forced the government to perform yet another U-turn on their budget. While the finance secretary previously said that he had ‘maxed out’ his budget, Derek Mackay has managed to discover an additional £40 million to address some of the concerns that had been raised. The government will provide relief for roughly 10,000 businesses in some specific sectors by capping their rates increases at 12.5 per cent but this by no means goes far enough.

Nearly 100,000 of the businesses across Scotland that are facings rises in their non-domestic rates will not see any benefit from the Scottish National Party’s rate relief scheme. The Scottish Retail Consortium have rightly criticised the SNP’s efforts to alleviate the impact of the revaluation as merely a ‘sticking plaster’.

The Scottish Government ignored this issue for weeks and now their proposed plan only helps a fraction of businesses. The vast majority of small enterprises who are not being helped could face the prospect of having to close if they do not receive assistance from the Scottish Government.

The business rates debacle is yet another example of what happens when the Scottish National Party take their eye off the ball. Their obsession with independence means that they are failing to get on with their day job of governing the country.

While the Scottish Government have more money to spend per head than in the rest of the UK, they not only continue to levy higher taxes than on those in England but also provide Scots with a poorer standard of public services.

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party are the only party committed to low taxes for hard-working families and the essential reforms that are needed to deliver better public services.