3. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:49 pm on 8 April 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:49, 8 April 2020

Thank you, Helen Mary, and certainly, picking up that last point, I will raise that with Ken Skates around the business support. Your other specific questions, then. I think you're right about our retail workforce; they have worked incredibly hard. We saw that huge rise in people stockpiling and that now has levelled off. Certainly, in my discussions I've had with the supermarkets, they've made that very clear that that initial peak has now passed and they are able to stock their shelves so that people—. Our very hard-working NHS staff, who were turning up at 5 o'clock in their local supermarket as usual to buy milk and bread and couldn't do that, that's now passed, and you should now be able to shop in a normal way. I'm very pleased that supermarkets have also had those protected slots for our NHS workers, who absolutely needed them, and also for the elderly in the beginning, but that now obviously has changed, and also the social care sector. I think many supermarkets have ensured they've had those protected slots for social care workers as well.

I do think there was an inconsistency, also, around—and this would have led, as well, to our retail workers finding it stressful—protection for themselves. So, for those of us that go to supermarkets, we will see now that most of the supermarkets have screens in place, and, again, all the supermarkets assured me that, by the end of last week, those screens would be in place.

Around the food boxes, I hear what Helen Mary says about local authorities, but I think we've asked a huge amount of our local authorities, and I'm really grateful for the work that they've done. As I say, we've got a very robust system in place. All 22 local authorities are signed up to the food box delivery scheme. Every day, I receive the latest numbers of how many food packages have gone out in each local authority every day. I think in Merthyr Tydfil it was over 400, up until yesterday. In some local authorities, it is not so much, but everybody is signed up to it now, which I think is really important.

Around the fresh fruit and vegetables, I mentioned in my earlier answer that we've committed to these boxes for 12 weeks, but throughout those 12 weeks, we can look at ensuring there are more fruit and vegetables in those boxes, for instance. At the end of 12 weeks, maybe we could look at using Welsh producers, because I'm really keen to be able to do that.

The point you raise about animal sanctuaries, and clearly for a lot of charities, they have seen, probably, an end to their fundraising and also their trading activity, if they run a shop, for instance. This sits within the portfolio of Jane Hutt, and I know she's been having discussions around support for charities. This morning, the First Minister invited Ruth Marks to update us about the work that the Wales Council for Voluntary Action and the local voluntary council sector partnerships have been doing about this. But, again, I'll raise this point with Jane Hutt.