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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:58 pm on 22 April 2020.

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Photo of Leanne Wood Leanne Wood Plaid Cymru 4:58, 22 April 2020

I've written to you, Minister, about a number of businesses that have fallen through the gaps that everybody has been talking about in the provision to prevent unemployment and the collapse of businesses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these businesses doesn't qualify for financial support because it's not VAT registered and run from home. Now, the business owner has tried to get finance from a bank in the form of a business interruption loan to keep the business running, but the minimum amount that they say they can lend is £25,000, and that's too much. Many other self-employed people have been in touch to say that they can't receive the financial support that's available as well, and income for most of these people now has dried up and they're surviving on savings if they've got them. These are all cases that have checked against the eligibility criteria, so how can you assist the groups of businesses and individuals that have missed out on this support? Universal income would be one solution to that, but is there something special that you can do for this particular group of people? How can you prevent these many good businesses from going to the wall?