TOURISM Secretary Fergus Ewing has urged the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) to "be responsible" after it announced it could slash staff numbers and sell-off sites.

Sending a message to the organisation, Ewing questioned the timing of the announcement, which was made on the eve of the UK Government's "well-trailed" decision to extend the furlough scheme and protect jobs.

More than 400 NTS jobs are on the line as the heritage body responds to financial cost of lockdown.

Even Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister, could be sold off as the charity prepares to seek buyers for "non-heritage" sites amidst the "extreme and unprecedented" conditions.

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NTS says its income will take a £28million hit this year and £46m has been lost from its investments due to stock market conditions.

The news emerged on Tuesday – one day before the UK Government announced it will extend the furlough scheme to avoid mass job losses – and NTS chief executive Simon Skinner called the potential redundancies "the toughest of all decisions", adding: "This is bitter news and, believe me, if there were any other alternatives we would be trying them. This is a situation not of our making and was impossible to foresee just a few short weeks ago."

But today Rural Economy and Tourism Secretary Fergus Ewing raised questions about the decisions taken by the NTS leadership, saying the furlough announcement had been "well trailed" and "was not unexpected".

Describing NTS assets like Moray's Brodie Castle and sites like Bannockburn and Culloden as "national treasures", he called NTS staff "the public face of Scotland" and said he was "saddened" by the potential losses.

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Appearing before MSPs on the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee at Holyrood, Ewing said he hoped Skinner was "listening" to the meeting, which was streamed online, adding: "We hope and urge every employer to behave as responsibly as they can, and that obviously applies to the National Trust for Scotland."

Tory MSP Oliver Mundell agreed: "I hope they are listening."

Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, is set to meet NTS bosses tomorrow, Ewing said. He added: "I very much do hope that we can see some progress in the situation with the National Trust."

Ewing also urged the UK Government to bridge a support "gap" for rural hotel businesses who do not meet grant criteria and are left facing major loans.

He said the Scottish Government was trying to help through its funds, but insisted the Treasury should be doing more to support firms who have paid into the public purse for years. Referring to Scotland's Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund (Perf), he said he'd spoken to hotel owners who were in tears over the matter.

Ewing said every rural town could lose their main hotel, stating: "Many of these businesses are businesses that have been build up over decades by families, by individuals who are maybe now perhaps at the end of their working life, perhaps in their late 50s or early 60s and not relishing the possibility of taking out a loan of half a million pounds to pay back to the government for another 10 years."

He went on: "The worry in Scotland of course is nomatter how much money we apply to Perf –and we've doubled it since we set it up initially because it's so important – that it may not be enough to meet demand. I'll be candid about that. The impact on business is so devastating."

On the overall outlook for tourism, he said recovery "will not be quick": "It will be slow, it will be a long period of recovery and we have to prepare for that."