7. What plans is the Welsh Government making to protect businesses if the UK Parliament fails to stop the UK from leaving the EU with no deal? OAQ54223

The Welsh Government is doing all it can to support businesses in preparations for EU exit through advice, guidance and resources that we and the Development Bank of Wales are making available. However, no preparations can fully mitigate the effects of a 'no deal' Brexit.

The Federation of Small Businesses is already reporting that businesses in Cardiff Central are suffering from things like exchange-rate fluctuations, which is making it incredibly difficult for people to be able to price their goods accurately without the danger of making a loss. We've got construction companies who are losing staff because people are returning to their countries of origin, and smaller IT companies are reporting that they are struggling to source stock, because larger IT companies are stockpiling materials and equipment. I think it's a particularly difficult time for small businesses, and I note that both Ireland and the Netherlands are offering support to small businesses in the form of Brexit advice vouchers or other forms of financial or non-financial support to help small businesses through the unknown. The UK Government has notably not yet offered any of this sort of support to UK businesses; they seem to be too busy organising freight contracts with companies who have no ships. So, I wonder if this is something you have discussed with the Welsh Government, or if you could raise it.

I thank the Member for that question and I recognise very much the sorts of challenges that she described companies and businesses in her constituency as suffering—the challenges in particular for small businesses, who may not have the resources or the breadth of time and capacity to address what are, for all of us, a very complex, interconnected set of challenges. Perhaps it's particularly acute for sole traders or for small businesses, and we've been mindful of that in how we've sought to tailor some of the support that we feel able to give, which we are clear is a partial contribution to what is a complex set of challenges.

She will know that we have established a Brexit business resilience fund, which enables businesses to apply to the Welsh Government for financial support for projects that might enable them to transition through difficult, turbulent times into a post-Brexit world. That's a match funded scheme, but it provides access to really quite significant sources of revenue. At the moment, it's over subscribed, but we are looking at that.

There is also a significant amount of funding that has been made available to the Development Bank of Wales to target businesses of different sizes, including small businesses, and some of that is around covering short-term financing problems and so on. But the sorts of challenges she identifies around exchange rate risk, and also, as I've heard elsewhere, companies that may have stockpiled their own stock leading up to the end of March or April now finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage, if you like—. So, these are absolutely complex challenges. We are hoping that we can provide some support through the Business Wales network and through the Brexit portal, which companies in her constituency can access through the Preparing Wales website. I hope and I expect that she will be only too glad to pass on that information to her constituents, companies and businesses.

And finally, question 8—Llyr Gruffydd.