4. Statement by the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:34 pm on 17 March 2020.

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Photo of Andrew RT Davies Andrew RT Davies Conservative 3:34, 17 March 2020

Thank you, Presiding Officer. As someone in this Chamber whose own business has been through similar situations that businesses find themselves in, back on 20 March 1996, when the beef crisis struck and markets effectively shut down completely overnight, I can fully understand the true impact of what we are about to see unfold before many people. And it will be many years before this is balanced, shall we say—I wouldn't say 'rectified' because I think the economic damage, even in the last five days, has been so great that it'll be difficult to make up that ground. But there will be a future coming out of this, and we have to be prepared for that future, to shape it and create it.

I'd just like to seek two points from the Minister, if I may. I am surprised that the Minister hasn't touched on the £100 billion that the Chancellor put on the table last Wednesday in his budget in lending support through the banks and underwriting 80 per cent of the collateral should the loan go bad. I think that is an omission from the statement this afternoon. As I said, I'm very surprised that it is missing from the statement, because it is critical that people do have access to credit. And, at the time of that announcement, as far as I'm aware, that was the biggest fiscal stimulus in Europe—at the time that it was announced on Wednesday; there will be further stimulus announced this afternoon from the Chancellor. But it is vital to understand how the Minister will be engaging with banks. I heard what he says about a meeting on Thursday, but many of those decisions are taken outside Wales, and it cannot be right that businesses in Wales might be jeopardised in their applications unless that voice is heard loud and clear and decisions are taken on the specifics of the way the Welsh economy is structured, which has a very small business focus to it, rather than some of the larger entities that you find elsewhere. And I would be very pleased to understand what your key asks are going to be in that meeting that will be held on Thursday.

The second point I would like to make to the Minister is that supply of information. It is critically important. As the constituency Member for the Vale of Glamorgan and I found out yesterday, businesses at the moment feel that they're working in a void of information. Some of that information has been made available over the last 24 hours. But, as of yesterday morning, most of the businesses that we were speaking to—and the constituency Member for the Vale of Glamorgan will back this up—understood what was on offer from the UK Government, but did not understand what was available from the Welsh Government. I hear what you say about Business Wales being the main point of contact, but can you give me an assurance that they are resourced well enough? Because every single business in Wales is affected by what is unfolding before our eyes. And I don't mean this as a criticism, because the size of this is so great, but I struggle to believe that that one point is going to be resourced enough to be a one-stop shop to provide all the information that we require from the UK Government's point of view, as well as the Welsh Government's point of view. And I don't mean that as a criticism—I mean that as the scale of what we are facing in the coming days and weeks ahead of us.