3. Will the Counsel General make a statement on the Welsh Government's engagement with small businesses on Brexit preparedness? OAQ54221

We have supported small and micro businesses through the Brexit resilience grant and are providing preparedness information with businesses and stakeholders, particularly through our websites. We are in constant dialogue with key organisations representing the interests and concerns of small businesses, several of whom are represented on the EU exit working group, a sub-committee of our council for economic development.

Thank you for your answer, Minister. I'm sure you would agree with me that it is, obviously, vital to engage with businesses across Wales in preparation for Brexit. You mentioned that you have been talking to some of the key organisations and they are around the table in your meetings also. But I'm particularly concerned about small, independent businesses that might not be members of such institutions as the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses. How are you engaging with those kinds of groups that are not in membership bodies?

Well, the Member raises a very important point, if I may say, and I know that he brings a particular perspective to that. I was at an event on Friday of last week, in my region, run by the South Wales Chamber of Commerce, and these challenges were the sorts of things being discussed there. The question of how one disseminates information very widely is a challenge.

We have provided online resources that explain, we hope, in straightforward terms some simple steps that businesses of any size should consider taking, partly to assess their own readiness for Brexit. Some may be exposed to Brexit in different ways from others, but there are some simple steps on our 'Preparing Wales to leave the EU' website that we're encouraging businesses of all sizes to take. 

There is a particular tool that, again, is user-friendly and can be used by businesses of any size, that enables businesses to look at questions of workforce, trading conditions, data protection—really practical aspects of business life—and we encourage businesses of all sizes in Wales to look at that, look at the resources we've provided online and to engage with those tools. It is very difficult for small businesses to make judgments in what is a very, very uncertain field. It's hard enough for large companies, but if you're a small business, perhaps without spare resources to deploy on different potential outcomes, we recognise how difficult that set of circumstances is.

But I think it's important for the message to be sent out and I hope that Members in the Chamber will do what they can in their constituencies and their networks to share that set of messages from the Welsh Government that there are some steps that businesses should consider taking, so that they put themselves in the best possible position for what could be extremely choppy waters ahead for many of them.