Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 18 March 2020.
Yes, of course. I welcomed the Chancellor's announcement, but clearly more needs to be done in the coming days, particularly to support businesses with wage costs and financial support for employees who've been laid off. Now, the Welsh Government will be making an announcement later this afternoon regarding matching in full the grants to small businesses in England as well as providing business rate relief for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. However, Dirprwy Lywydd, there is a significant shortfall of hundreds of millions of pounds between the Barnett consequential we have received and the cost of matching all aspects of the Chancellor's package for English businesses, and we expect the UK Government to fill this gap.