2. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:30 pm on 8 April 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:30, 8 April 2020

Llywydd, I thank Darren for all three questions. Field hospital capacity in Wales is a developing picture. Vaughan's statement of 5 April was the position on that day. We continue to work with all local health boards to make sure that they have the resources that they will need. The field hospital in Cardiff will serve a population far greater than Cardiff itself. As I suggested in my answer to Jayne Bryant, it's a resource available to that wider population. But, of course, we continue to work hard with Betsi Cadwaladr and staff there to make sure that the 837 beds, I think it was, that Vaughan announced on 5 April—if more are needed then more will be planned and provided. 

It's a very good point that Darren makes on the tourism industry. Can I thank all those many tourism businesses who have put their facilities at the disposal of the coronavirus outbreak? Sometimes they are physical facilities, sometimes in encouraging their staff to take up places in care roles, because, as they say, these are very often people who are used to dealing with members of the public, they have that basic interpersonal set of skills that are really important in the care sector, and when that sector is under pressure then people who would otherwise have been working in tourism being willing to help out, I really want to recognise the efforts that have been made.

The gap in the job retention scheme is a gap that only the UK Government can plug. But I will be very happy—. And I'm sure Darren probably has more details than he was able to convey in his question, but if he wanted to pass those to me, I'm very happy indeed to make sure that that point is conveyed to people who are responsible for the scheme.

And, as far as tuition fees are concerned, our universities, like every other organisation, are under huge pressure, because they have lost income and they are anxious about the recruitment of students from elsewhere in the world and what will happen in September. But Kirsty Williams remains in very close discussion, both with them and the National Union of Students, to make sure that we hear all sides of that story and see how we can make sure that students themselves don't feel that they are being short-changed at the moment, and that, when education resumes again, if there is a need for some additional help for those people to catch up on studies that they may have lost out on, that we're absolutely aware of that.