Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:06 pm on 18 March 2020.
Well, can I thank Helen Mary Jones? Just as she was incredibly constructive and helpful yesterday, so too she is today. At risk of adding to the burden of my officials, I think it would be helpful, in light of what Helen Mary Jones has suggested, if I provide a weekly written statement concerning our engagement with the UK Government and other devolved nations, and the very latest in terms of interventions concerning the economy, and I'll endeavour to do just that.
In terms of the points raised concerning sole traders and microbusinesses, as I've said, later today we expect to be able to announce that we'll be matching the UK Government's offer of grants of £10,000 to all small businesses. That will include sole traders. Where sole traders and microbusinesses don't have premises, then they will need to rely on a wage subsidy scheme. That's why I think it's so important that as soon as possible the UK Government can develop a fair wage subsidy scheme for businesses of all sizes in order to ensure that businesses can either hibernate or fight through this particular crisis.
And then, thirdly, Helen Mary Jones raised the important point of just how significant independent hoteliers can be to many of our communities—independent large shops, as well, in many parts of Wales. I would say that discretionary rate relief could be available to support many, but if we really wish to match what the UK Government has offered to England, and if we wish to ensure that as many businesses as possible benefit from this, we need the UK Government to fill that huge gap of hundreds of millions of pounds.