The next item is the statement by the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales on the response to coronavirus, and I call on the Minister to make the statement—Ken Skates.

Diolch, Llywydd. I'd like to begin by first of all thanking Members across the Chamber, as well as our social partners and our colleagues in every area of public service in Wales, for the huge amount of work that's been done in contributing to and supporting the economic response to coronavirus.

Now, as I will come to outline, we've made a great deal of progress in delivering rapid support through our economic resilience fund through the Development Bank of Wales, and through business rate relief being administered by local authorities, and I'd like to pay tribute to everybody who's helped on that particular front.

Now, I say this because the need for this support could not be greater.  Economies around the world are showing signs of record contractions and significant unemployment. The eurozone economy shrank at the sharpest pace on record in the first quarter, and even the strongest economy, Germany, recorded unemployment rising by 373,000 in April.

There are many businesses in Wales that have already had to take tough decisions. Of those businesses and venues that must currently remain closed, there are over 200,000 employees within those industries in Wales. Over a third of those work within the food and drink industries, and over a quarter work in the retail sector. This is before we take into account, of course, the supply chain impact. But our priority is public health and controlling the pandemic. Without public confidence in that, consumers will not go to shops, people will not travel and workers will not return to offices.

In the meantime, as thousands of individuals and businesses put their livelihoods on hold to save lives, the Welsh Government is taking decisive action to help all those businesses and individuals who have been impacted.

As it stands, we've invested £1.7 billion in support packages, equivalent to 2.7 per cent of GDP in Wales. This is a truly unprecedented commitment and a clear demonstration that we are standing up for businesses in all parts of Wales. Just last week, the Minister for Finance and I announced that over £0.5 billion-worth of relief grants had moved from Government to businesses, reaching 41,000 small businesses in Wales in the space of just a few weeks. All eligible businesses in the tourism, retail and hospitality sector are now benefiting from a year-long rates holiday. During my last statement, I told you we had added an extra £100 million to the amount of funding for the first phase of the Wales-only economic resilience fund, which totals £0.5 billion overall. That fund was paused at midday on Monday 27 April, following the very large number of applications, worth over £255 million in total.

Funding, I'm pleased to say, is now flowing to businesses, with over 700 applications being appraised and approved daily. The rate of applications has been unprecedented, and I'd like to thank the team of Welsh Government officials who have worked at pace to process applications and get money into the accounts of those businesses and organisations that need that support quickly.

We are reviewing how we can now utilise the remaining funding to support those firms who need it most and to protect our economy. I'd like to reiterate that this is not support that is being made available to small and medium-sized businesses in England; it's finance from within our own budgets here in Wales. I know that there are many firms here in Wales that are still in business because of our support that would have closed had they been based in England.

I've had some excellent discussions with colleagues right across the Chamber about the next steps with our ERF fund, and how additional finance through the Development Bank of Wales could be used. The development bank's COVID-19 loan scheme was fully subscribed in little more than seven days, after 1,600 applications were submitted. In an average year, the DBW processes around 400 applications. So, it's anticipated that the DBW will have processed all applications very shortly, and 567 of these loans have gone to small and micro businesses, safeguarding 4,571 jobs.

Last week's announcement about the UK Government's bounce back loan scheme, which is available here in Wales, was very welcome, and we continue to work with the UK Government to identify the gaps in provision for businesses in Wales. And, as I've said repeatedly now, we want to support good businesses in 2019 to be good businesses in 2021. We want to support people who had a good job in 2019 to have a good job in 2021. But there is a very real need for the Chancellor to learn lessons quickly from the schemes implemented so far, not least on getting funds to businesses faster, and I do think that there's a lot that we can learn from our very own development bank in this regard.

It's essential that the UK Government now goes further by providing the financial support needed for firms of all sizes to survive and recover to the levels of growth and prosperity that were seen before this pandemic. It must also look at how the furlough scheme is landing with businesses and heed their call for it not to be withdrawn before the crisis has ended.

The economic resilience fund will support a significant number of businesses and enterprises facing cash-flow pressures. But the Welsh Government has always been clear it will not reach all of them. This includes support for the port of Holyhead. After the UK Government announced, on 24 April, that its support for ferry services and routes did not include the vital route between Dublin and Holyhead, I pressed the UK Government to look again, and I am pleased that they are. We look forward to working constructively to support the port, which is the second busiest in the UK, and it's absolutely vital to the economy of north Wales. It's also a vital link, transporting critical goods such as food and oxygen supplies for the NHS to the UK mainland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

As I said earlier, for now, the priority remains public health and controlling the pandemic. That doesn't mean that we are not thinking about the future for the economy and the pathway to recovery. It's essential we do look across all areas of Government, not just at the economic levers. I'm in regular contact with UK Government and devolved administration colleagues on this matter as we work to make our countries safer places to live and to work. We are giving careful consideration to how we exit lockdown, and we remain committed to working across the four administrations on developing the right policy on this.

Just yesterday, I joined my devolved colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland in setting out the common concerns we shared in relation to the UK Government's safer workplaces guidance. Now, as the First Minister has said, we are keen to avoid divergence wherever possible, and we published our recovery framework for how we will lead Wales out of this crisis in a way that keeps everybody safe and revitalises our economy as quickly as possible. We need a thriving economy that provides people with their jobs, their incomes and supports our public services; one where we we have a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales. The best way to do that is to get control of the virus now. I'm happy to take questions.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement, and thank you for your regular briefings to the spokespeople as well. Minister, you mentioned that the economic resilience fund was paused last Monday, I wonder if you could confirm more detail about the next phase of the scheme, because businesses will be absolutely anxious to find out when that's going to be announced and what's going to be in that.

There are some significant gaps that I know, from our discussions, that you are aware of, but perhaps you could clarify whether some of these issues will be identified in the next phase. I'm thinking particularly of newly self-employed groups of people; businesses that are not registered for value added tax, which are currently excluded from the scheme; and then, of course, there are the businesses that pay business rates, effectively, within their rent to their landlords; and also owner-directors of microbusinesses; and also support for charities or not-for-profit organisations that are not eligible for support currently.

And, of course, one of the biggest sectors that has been affected currently, I'm sure you'll agree with me, is the tourism sector, and it's looking like the entire season is going to be wiped out for them for this year, unfortunately. So, in that regard, I wonder if you could outline what considerations the Welsh Government has given to introducing any specific measures for the tourism and hospitality sector. And why has the Welsh Government given direction to local authorities to impose new criteria, which have excluded self-catering holiday-let businesses from accessing financial support through the small business rate relief scheme, rather than providing national guidance with which all local authorities could abide to ensure fairness? I think the other issue is about local authorities being a bit concerned about applying discretion, because they're not sure whether they'll be able to recoup some of the funding back afterwards.

Can I thank Russell George for his comments and also the constructive suggestions that he's made in recent weeks, which have contributed to our shaping of direct business support?

I'll just pick up briefly on the ERF programme and the further work that is taking place as we consider the next phase of that particular fund. Members will be aware that the UK Government recently topped up the non-domestic rates grant scheme by approximately £617 million. That will deliver a consequential for Wales, and we will be utilising that for business support. I'm aware that there are gaps. We are looking at what we can do to plug those gaps following phase 1, not just through the ERF, but also as we look to the next phase of the Development Bank of Wales support. Now, Russell George has outlined a number of areas where there are currently gaps that we are obviously giving attention to. That includes those businesses that are not registered for VAT; it includes businesses in shared spaces—regular market traders, for example—and also those bed and breakfasts that pay council tax rather than business rates. We will try to plug as many gaps as we can, but our financial resources are finite and our pockets are certainly not as deep as the UK Government Treasury.

Now, in terms of some of the work regarding specific sectors is concerned, in terms of tourism, I think everybody would recognise that it's going to be incredibly difficult for businesses in the tourism sector to generate much revenue at all during the 2020 tourism year. It's absolutely vital that we protect the health of the public, and therefore the health of the economy, for 2021, because revenue probably won't be generated by tourism businesses much sooner than the spring of next year. That means that a prolonged period of support will be required for the tourism sector, and other sectors such as the events sector and hospitality. The Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism is keen to ensure that the UK Government considers a lengthier period of support for the tourism sector. He is engaging very regularly with Ministers in the UK Government and with his colleagues across the devolved administrations on this matter.

I think it's absolutely vital, with regard to the discretion that we give local authorities, that we recognise that local authorities are often best placed to know what those local economic needs of their constituents, villages and towns and areas are. Indeed, the UK Government just recently, with topping up of the NDR grant scheme, gave local authorities the discretion to choose to make payments to businesses based on local economic need. I think it's right that we give guidance, but I also think that it's right that we give discretion to local authorities, because quite frankly, when it comes to knowing the detail of local businesses, they are best placed to make informed and proper judgments.

I take that last point, Minister, but I think there's still the issue of local authorities being nervous about taking some discretion, and perhaps some additional consideration could be given there.

My final set of questions, very briefly, is in regards to the recovery stage, which of course I think we all hope that we can move to as soon as possible. I wonder what support you've given to building construction that can take place, which has perhaps paused at the moment, in getting construction started again, and whether there's any consideration you've had with colleagues about relaxing some planning restrictions to allow some construction work to begin perhaps sooner. 

The other issue, of course, is that many people in my own constituency can't work from home because they haven't got sufficient broadband or connectivity. So I wonder, Minister, if you could outline how the current outbreak has affected the Welsh Government's programme to improve broadband connectivity, such as the Superfast Cymru phase 2 project. I'm sure you'll agree with me that decent broadband is of course particularly important for homeworking at this time.

Then, finally, in terms of getting people back into work, I wonder what the capacity you could outline is for public transport and the ability to maintain social distancing. Is guidance in place? Has it been worked up? You mentioned last month, in your statement, funding mechanisms to support this particular sector. How is this funding being used? Perhaps you could report back on that. And what is your long-term strategy for public transport?

Can I thank Russell George for those further questions? I will speak with the WLGA regarding the variation in terms of how councils are supporting businesses on a discretionary basis, to ensure that all support that can be given to businesses is being given and that local authorities are not acting in an overly nervous way, as Russell has outlined.

In terms of the recovery, our concern first and foremost is with the health of workers and the health of the general public, and that's why we'll be keenly ensuring that practicing social distancing and practicing safe working measures is a priority for all businesses as they resume, and that includes the construction sector. The construction sector will have an incredibly important role to play in terms of stimulating economic recovery immediately after we emerge from this crisis, and we're working with the sector to examine how we can ensure that public investment in infrastructure is utilised to swiftly recover the economy. Members will be aware that many construction sites have remained open in order to contribute to the national effort to overcome coronavirus and to deliver important infrastructure schemes for the country. I'll liaise with the Minister responsible for planning regarding regulations and rules, but, as I say, it is absolutely vital that we prioritise the health and well-being of workers.

In terms of broadband, I'll ask the Deputy Minister to write to Members with an update on the latest phase of the superfast broadband intervention.FootnoteLink

And with regard to public transport, I can share with Members today news that work has been commissioned by the Department for Transport regarding future behaviours in terms of public transport usage. That will help to inform capacity planning and demand management across the population. What concerns us right now is that we need to guarantee that the health and safety of the travelling public and the people working in public transport is maintained. That will, in turn, lead to reduced capacity and, therefore, we need to manage expectations as to how many seats will be available on trains and on buses, and how we're going to go about ensuring that we can get as many people back to work in a safe way, in a way that does not compromise the health of people working on public transport systems or, indeed, the travelling public. I'll report back on how the funding has been used so far, the stabilising funding for rail and bus services, as we consider the longer term interventions that may need to be made in order to ensure that we have the best possible public transport system as we emerge from this crisis.

Information further to Plenary

I thank the Minister very much for his statement and for the ongoing co-operation between himself and his staff and others of us across this Chamber. It's much appreciated. 

If I can first refer to the economic resilience fund, I was very pleased to hear the Minister say in response to Russell George that he will try and ensure that as many as possible of the businesses that currently can't get access to support will get access. I raised concerns with him, for example, about bed-and-breakfast businesses that pay council tax rather than business rates, and also sole traders working from home. I wonder if it's possible for the Minister to give us some sort of idea about the timescale in which he hopes to make this decision. It's obviously very important that he avoids duplicating UK schemes and actually genuinely uses his resources to plug the gaps, but I'm sure that he will also understand that there are many very small businesses that haven't yet had support that are anxiously awaiting what he has to say. 

With regard to the recovery, the Minister rightly talks about keeping everyone safe, and it's my understanding that new guidance is being worked on across the four nations to look at what a safe return to work will look like for many members of staff in lots of different industries. I'm sure the Minister will agree with me that some staff will need reassurance that, when this new guidance and these new rules are in place, there will be ways in which that can be effectively enforced. I know that he's aware of my concern about the capacity within local government to do that effectively. So, can he say any more about how he may be able to ensure that, when this new regulation is in place, workers can get the support that they need if they have to ask for rules to be enforced?

Llywydd, can I thank Helen Mary Jones for her questions, and again for, on a regular basis, offering ideas and also flagging up concerns that, hopefully, we've been able to address during the course of the pandemic?

Helen Mary has highlighted a number of areas of concern regarding the gaps that have emerged in terms of the support that is being offered, and one of those concerns is bed-and-breakfast businesses that pay council tax rather than business rates. This is one specific area that we're looking at as part of the next phase of support through the economic resilience fund.

And in terms of the timescale for announcing that second phase, work, as I've mentioned, is ongoing. I expect to receive advice and options within the coming week. An announcement will then be made swiftly following that. It's been helpful that we've been able to factor into our considerations the additional sum that will come as a consequential from the UK Government's top-up of the non-domestic rates grant scheme.

What is absolutely vital, though, I should say to Members, is that we retain some firepower for the actual recovery stage as we look to make strategic investments in our economy. We can't use up all of our resource in the response; we have to retain some investment for the recovery period. 

And in terms of the recovery, Helen Mary is absolutely right: we need to give people confidence, whether it's employees or whether it's customers of businesses; we need to give them confidence that they can access goods and services in a safe way. And we are giving consideration, as part of the work on working safer, to the application of some form of certification—a kite mark, if you like, here in Wales that could offer up an opportunity for that guidance to be self-enforced by customers and by workers.

We're working with the Wales Trade Union Congress and we'll also be working very closely with the Welsh Local Government Association to ensure that sufficient capacity and systems are operational to guarantee that that guidance is being adhered to. The Wales TUC, in particular, has been very helpful in contributing to the importance of the social distancing regulations within the workforce, being able to provide us with examples and instances of concerns that have been raised with their members, and we've followed up each and every one of those reports. So, hopefully, our enforcement programme that has been in place since those regulations were introduced can be carried on after we begin the recovery period.    

I'm grateful to the Minister for his answers. He's rightly said, and it's also something that the First Minister mentioned in response to questions today, that much of what will need to be done to protect and strengthen the Welsh economy can't be done by the Welsh Government alone, because the resources simply aren't there. And I wonder if the Minister can say a little bit more today about the discussions he's been having with UK Government about the support that's needed for some of our key businesses. We had the unfortunate news about General Electric going out to consultation about potentially a large number of redundancies. The steel sector, of course, continues to be a huge issue for us here in Wales in Port Talbot but also, of course, in Trostre in my own region. And I wonder if the Minister can say a little bit more about how those discussions with the UK Government are proceeding and whether he feels they fully understand. 

In the statement, the Minister mentioned that there is a need for the Chancellor to learn some lessons, and he also mentioned the furlough scheme. Can the Minister confirm this afternoon that he is still in active discussions with the UK Government about wishing both to maintain the furlough scheme, as he said, during the months that come, but also looking for some flexibility? I'm thinking particularly of seasonal workers—everybody from people who might usually work in a hotel or caravan park or, indeed, as lifeguards, and whether he feels that the Chancellor is in listening mode when he's raising those concerns.  

These are really important points, and I think I should just explain to Members as well that Helen Mary Jones and I have discussed some specific concerns regarding what may be small sectors, nonetheless they are important sectors including, for example, lifeguards who are employed from 1 April by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and therefore miss out on the current arrangements contained within the job retention scheme.

I'm pleased to say that I raised that specific case today with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Ministers, with Nadhim Zahawi, and I also pressed the case for Ministers to learn lessons on furlough schemes, as they have done on the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme—the interruption loan scheme. I was told, I'm pleased to say, that the UK Government is keen to ensure that furlough does not reach a cliff edge, that businesses, if they do require a lengthier period of support, will get that lengthier period, and I highlighted sectors of the economy, including tourism, and the aerospace industry, where a lengthier period of support may well be required. So, UK Government Ministers are paying attention to those concerns right now.

On a four-nation basis, we share intelligence—the devolved administrations and the UK Government. I'm pleased to say that, red-amber-green ratings that are applied to sectors by UK Government, by Welsh Government, indeed, by Governments in Northern Ireland and Scotland, are pretty consistent. Ours certainly is mirrored by the UK Government; the Scottish RAG rating obviously includes sectors such as oil and gas, as you might imagine, and we also have some sectors that are featuring particularly prominently right now. Steel is one of those; aerospace is another, and I've raised with UK Government Ministers the need for direct and significant intervention to support Tata, to support Airbus, to ensure that these key employers that have very deep and extensive supply chains across Wales are given the support to survive this virus. It comes as no surprise, I'm sure, that the support for such employers is a key feature of the weekly discussions that I have with the devolved administrations and with UK Government Ministers. 

I thank the Minister for your statement this afternoon, and I would like to welcome the opportunity to question you as an 'Aelod o'r Senedd' for the first time.

Can I say that we really all appreciate the work that's being done with your interventions with the economy in Wales? But, Minister, on 14 April, the Office for Budget Responsibility produced a reference scenario on the shrinking economy. This was looking at the possible impact of coronavirus on the economy—the UK economy that is—and therefore, the public finances. The OBR were careful not to call it a forecast; it was instead a position baseline for other work. It will be some time before official statistics begin to reflect the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the labour market. The labour force survey used by the Office for National Statistics in the monthly labour market bulletin will be unlikely to reflect the impact of the pandemic until June at the earliest. However, one indicator may be the statistic issued by the universal credit director general on 15 April, showing that 1.4 million people signed up to universal credit on the preceding four weeks. The OBR scenario shows the UK economy shrinking by something like 35 per cent on the second quarter of this year. There is no doubt, Minister, that this will impact on Wales's financial situation, and given that Wales is more reliant on the service sector, currently making up 66 per cent of Wales's gross value added, Wales could be affected more than the UK in general.

Could the Minister outline his plans for dealing with the scenario produced by the OBR? In particular, once business starts to get back to work, perhaps getting to some sort of normality, the interventions that you may have to kick start the Welsh economy in those circumstances.

May I thank David Rowlands for his questions? There's no doubt that a recession now is unavoidable, but what we must avoid at all costs is a depression. And we've been playing a very significant part in ensuring that that doesn't happen in Wales. We have, so far, supported directly around one in five Welsh businesses with grants. We've also supported businesses through rates holidays, and, in addition to that, there's the UK Government's job retention scheme, and indeed, the self-employment income support scheme that is helping to keep businesses and to keep the self-employed essentially alive during what is an incredibly difficult period, even if it means hibernating activities for the short term.

In the longer term, already work is taking place across Welsh Government with regard to resetting the economy, and shaping a fairer, greener economy once we emerge from coronavirus, which will take us some time—it will not be a swift exercise in reshaping the economy, but it is nonetheless a very necessary one. And of course, the work that Jeremy Miles is leading on, in terms of those expert panels, the discussions that have taken place with external advisers, that will help to shape our interventions as we come out of this difficult period. Capital stumulus will play an important part in ensuring that the economy grows as rapidly as it possibly can do.

But David Rowlands is absolutely right in identifying the fact that Wales could well be more adversely impacted by coronavirus than other parts of the UK. There are similar sub-regions of the UK that could be hit just as hard as Wales—those areas where there's a high number of people who relied on heavy industries in past decades and those areas that have struggled to overcome the post-industrial challenges that we've seen. And that's why we are keen to work with those areas of the UK that share similar demographics, share similar economic challenges.

Later today, I'm going to be speaking with a number of metro mayors, just across the border, who represent such sub-regions. I'm keen to make sure that we share ideas, and that we share common approaches, and, indeed, that we share, where possible, a similar call for investment by the UK Government to be made in a way that reshapes the UK economy, and rebalances our economy across the United Kingdom.

Minister, it is perhaps inevitable there are going to be job losses amongst the six million furloughed workers in the UK. Tourism has all but collapsed, and much of the aviation industry, as you've already reported on, has reduced substantially. Now, we've heard announcements recently of the voluntary redundancies in my constituency, in GE, in Nantgarw. GE is a very highly valued company of engineering excellence, training a world-class workforce. Can you confirm that you are in contact with GE, and that the Welsh Government will continue to give all the support it can to the company, and to its workforce, over the coming months as we begin to come out of the coronavirus lockdown?

I'd like to thank Mick for his question. We've been a very loyal friend to GE, over many, many years. We've supported the company financially, we've supported the company in terms of the advice that we've been able to give it, and we are determined to support the company during this incredibly difficult period. Now, the voluntary redundancies consultation is going to last 45 days; it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on it in any detail at this stage whilst that is ongoing. But I can confirm that Welsh Government have been in very regular contact with GE in recent weeks, and I have also written to the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ask that the UK Government looks at what it can do to provide support to the aerospace industry.

We've seen a collapse in the sector across the globe. That means that it will be damaged for many years, if not decades, to come. But I am determined to ensure that, even though there may be a shrinkage overall in the global economy, the aviation sector and aerospace sector, Wales's aero sector emerges at least as strong as it went into it. Of course, there may well be job losses, but we need to ensure that those businesses that employ people with incredibly high pay rates compared to many other sectors, and those people who are very skilled, get the support that's required in order to guarantee as many jobs as possible when we emerge.

Many north Wales holiday let businesses contacted me when the Welsh Government announced revised criteria for business support grants, but only for them. One said that for many farmers, they represent an essential part of their income; the process is dreadfully stalled, causing great distress for my constituents. Another asked, 'How many self-catering businesses have to go bust before we get the help we were promised?' Another said, 'They're penalising genuine businesses. Ken Skates said that if you ran a successful business in 2019, then your business will be successful in 2020. I believed him and hope he will keep to his word.' So, how will you keep to you word?

How do you respond to the permanent employee of Guidant Global, which contracts to Airbus at their Broughton site, where their workforce of 500 were furloughed and served with an at-risk-of-redundancy notice on 28 April, who has asked for help? 

Well, there are two points I'd like to make in response to Mark Isherwood: first of all, with regard to those businesses that operate small holiday lets, I'd just like to remind Mark that the economic resilience fund in Wales is a fund that is not available in England, and farmers who have diversified can apply to the ERF, as I've already said in response to other Members. We are looking at how the next phase of the economic resilience fund can continue to plug gaps and it's absolutely vital, I think, as I said to Russell George, that local authorities are given some discretion in terms of how they can support businesses.

In terms of the aero sector, the aero sector and a number of businesses in north-east Wales, like Airbus, are suffering from a significant drop in demand and therefore some businesses—some—have issued at-risk notices. But it's not just the aero industry that have done this—there are businesses within the food and drink sector, such as KK Fine Foods, which have done the same, and they've done it, in part, because of the general uncertainty within the economy, but also because of a lack of certainty over the future of the furlough scheme. And that's why it's absolutely vital that the UK Government learns from its lessons and amends and, where necessary, lengthens those periods of support that such schemes can operate for. Furlough has been very, very important in avoiding job losses to date. But in order to avoid job losses such as those that Mark Isherwood has highlighted that could happen, it's vitally important that the UK Government extends further the furlough scheme beyond the end of June.

Business improvement districts, such as the Bangor BID in my constituency, are crucial to the work of regenerating the shopping areas of a number of towns and cities across Wales. Their work will be extremely valuable in dealing with the huge problems facing our high streets as a result of the current crisis. Now, £6 million is to be allocated to BIDs in England, in terms of providing support for three-month levy payments. Now I was wondering whether there would be match funding for Wales, and if so, when? And does your Government have any intention to assist businesses in the 16 BIDs that are currently still paying a levy into the scheme? The Scottish Government has allocated £1 million to assist the 18 BIDs in that country.

Can I thank Siân for her question? This is something that the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government, I know, has been considering very recently. I'm pleased to say that a positive decision was made and I'll make sure that that is conveyed in detail to all Members.

Minister, I'd like to ask you about what will happen as we move forward, particularly in relation to the skills agenda. Now, I'm sure you're aware that parts of the south Wales Valleys not only have high rates of coronavirus, but have also been identified as being more economically at risk in terms of the fallout after the crisis as well. So, I'd like to ask you what plans there are for the Valleys taskforce to reflect this extra burden in their work, moving forward.

I'd like to thank Vikki for this question. The issue of skills is something that we in Welsh Government concern ourselves with very much right now. There is no doubt that skills have always played an important part in growing the economy in a sustainable and fair way and, as we emerge from coronavirus, investment in skills will become even more important in ensuring that people can get back into work and sustain good quality work. 

The whole point of the Valleys taskforce was to ensure that wealth was being created in a fairer way in a part of Wales that has felt left behind and that has struggled to overcome deinsdustrialisation. Now, the way that you overcome deindustrialisation, as we know from various lessons elsewhere around world, is to invest in people, to invest in skills development in order to make those areas more attractive to investors and to empower people to be able to start their own businesses to support the foundational economy. And so I'm in no doubt whatsoever that the issue of how skills can be supported more will play very heavily in the consideration of the future workload of the Valleys taskforce. 

I'll ask my deputy, Lee Waters, to write to Members regarding the future of the Valleys taskforce.FootnoteLink I think its work will probably come into very, very sharp focus very soon as we look to the recovery period. 

Information further to Plenary

I'm grateful to the Minister for his statement this afternoon. Could I ask him about the sort of support that the Welsh Government has made available to people who are self-employed or rely on microbusinesses for their incomes? I'm thinking particularly of taxi drivers, I'm thinking of people who have started up as self-employed painters and decorators, who are working at the moment without any income at all and who are finding life very, very difficult. But also social enterprises, particularly those who are involved in childcare and who need support, but also the sorts of social enterprises that are the heart-blood and the lifeblood of Valleys communities, where the social enterprises will deliver community support for which people rely on in their everyday lives. So, there are a number of those businesses that I'm concerned may have fallen through some of the gaps that exist in overall business support. 

Alun Davies is absolutely right: social enterprises play an enormously important role across Wales, but particularly in areas where people are struggling to overcome the effects of heavy industry's decline. And I'm pleased to be able to tell Members today that, based on the latest figures, the proportion of ERF applications that have come from social enterprises is higher than the proportion of social enterprises amongst the 267,000 enterprises in Wales. So, there is no doubt that social enterprises will play a key part in drawing down ERF funding. And as we look forward, again within the Valleys area, the role of social enterprises will become increasingly important. I think, right across Wales, as we shape a fairer economy, social enterprises will play a more important and prominent role. 

Mohmmad Asghar. Mohammad Asghar, can we have your microphone on, please? Can Mohammad Asghar's microphone be turned on? Try now, Mohammad.

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I appreciate your concern on tourism. Visit Wales has released the results of a survey of tourism businesses taken after the lockdown, which makes for grim reading: 96 per cent of businesses expect the future impact of the virus to be significantly negative on the sector. Operators have called on both Governments to help their businesses by urgently revealing an exit strategy, pointing out that, even if they reopen in June, they will have lost a key part of prime tourism season in Wales.

Given the vital importance of tourism to the Welsh economy, what discussions have you had, Minister, with other ministerial colleagues and others about ensuring Wales retains a viable tourism industry after this coronavirus, by air, sea and land? And I appreciate your concern on this. We are predominantly a rural area, so a rural economy must be taken care of and improved with tourism. Thank you.

Thank you, Mohammad. Both myself and the Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism engage very regularly with our UK counterparts, and indeed with counterparts from the other devolved administrations on the issue of support for the visitor economy. Wales relies incredibly heavily on the tourism sector, and particularly rural parts of Wales, so it's vital that support is forthcoming from UK Government—a comprehensive package that will last beyond the immediate term to ensure that the 2021 tourism season is not lost, and to ensure that as many businesses in 2020 survive through to 2021 to take advantage of the recovery period.

I know that a huge number of businesses within the tourism sector in Wales are exemplar businesses across the UK and Europe. They have enabled us to proudly welcome people to Wales in recent years with the highest quality offer, with people who are employed in the sector employed to very, very high standards and with decent wages, and we want to make sure that as much of the sector as possible is buoyant in 2021. But what we can't do, equally, is put at risk the sector in 2021 by prematurely emerging from coronavirus and risking a second and third wave.

Minister, it was quietly announced in a notice to the press this week that the Welsh Government has joined the Wellbeing Economy Governments network alongside New Zealand, Iceland and Scotland. Now, Plaid Cymru has been calling for months for the Welsh Government to join this network, so we're delighted that you've listened to us on this.

I'm sure you'll agree that making well-being the primary drive of economic development has the potential to improve people's life experiences and leads to social progress and environmental renewal, and it sits alongside the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 quite perfectly. So, are you able to tell us, Minister, what discussions the Welsh Government has held with its new well-being economy partners so far and whether you're sharing ideas and good practice as part of this work that could help with the COVID-19 recovery process?

Well, I'm really pleased that a number of discussions have already taken place within the network. Those discussions have been incredibly productive, in that we've been able to share many ideas. We've been able to offer up from Wales initiatives such as the implementation of an economic contract to drive fair growth. We've been able to share, obviously, details of the well-being of future generations Act, and it's worth saying that we've actually been working with many of the countries that form the network for many months and many years—indeed, with Scotland, for example, on the development of the economic contract and lessons that could be learnt in driving the inclusive growth. So, I'm pleased that we are part of this network. I'm pleased that we've been working with countries that are part of the network for some time, and I hope that, as we emerge from coronavirus, the ideas that we share will lead to a fairer economy, not just in Wales, but hopefully globally.

[Inaudible.]—follow on briefly from questions from Vikki Howells and Alun Davies, on a similar theme, because the longer this crisis goes on, there's increasing evidence about some of the differential impacts that the pandemic is having on our most disadvantaged communities, and that certainly seems to be the case with mortality data.

So, can I ask you whether you have any analysis or whether this is also true for the economic impacts of the pandemic? Accepting that there's going to be obvious support needed from UK Government, can you reassure me that the continuing needs of those disadvantaged areas, like our Valleys communities, are given a specific consideration in your recovery plans, and to what extent the spatial impacts of the current economic disruption are being considered?

They're right at the heart of current consideration and they will continue to be. We have not just sectoral analysis updated on a daily basis, but also regional and spatial analysis that forms part of the intervention service that we've been announcing and will form part of the interventions that come during the recovery period.

And another reason why I'm keen to learn from other areas of the UK, whether it be through the well-being economy network or whether it be through direct discussions that I have with metro mayors and leaders of other sub-regions and the devolved administrations, is that we all share the common challenge that we have certain communities that are more disadvantaged, that we need to ensure have accelerated growth during a period of recovery and narrow inequalities rather than to see them further exacerbated and widened. My view is that—and it's a view that's shared across Government—we should take advantage of the recovery to narrow inequalities and at all costs avoid any measures that would lead to inequalities across Welsh communities widening. 

We know now which types of businesses have been missed by the support scheme. We've talked a lot about them this afternoon. Generally grouping, however, does not work. For example, in retail, supermarkets and online retailers are having the equivalent of Christmas every week, and those who, for example, are predominantly clothing and jewellery stores are closed. We have exactly the same with road haulage. Those supplying food stores have been in an entirely different position to other road haulage members who normally supply to places that are closed and obviously have no work. Will the Welsh Government identify the gaps and contact the Westminster Government regarding those that come under its responsibility and produce a plan to support those areas that the Welsh Government are responsible for? We have these gaps; we've got to fill them. 

I couldn't agree more, Mike, and that's precisely why we've been able to identify £500 million for the economic resilience fund, which is specifically designed to plug those gaps, but I have to say again that our resources are finite and we need to retain fire power for the recovery. The UK Government's pockets are much deeper, obviously, but it's absolutely vital that we intervene in a way that supplements and adds value to what the UK Government is doing. But please do recognise that our budgets are constrained and will be severely constrained for many months if not years to come, and therefore we need to make strategic investments.

We need to ensure that we stretch our investments as much as possible and that we get the maximum value for our investments. And that's not just in terms of the economic value; that's also in terms of how we can use our investments to drive decarbonisation; how we can use our investments to improve working conditions. And that's why I'm pleased to say that, during the course of plugging those gaps, we've been able to roll out the economic contract for thousands upon thousands more businesses that will now enable us to have a long-term conversation with Welsh businesses about how we can improve working conditions, how we can improve the health, mental health and the skills of the Welsh workforce, and how we can ensure that we go on decarbonising the Welsh economy.

I'd like to raise the case of Rubylicious dance studio. It's a fantastic company that is based in Canton in Cardiff West. My concern is that they should be—or they should have been—entitled to the £10,000 grant in terms of the business rate rebate, but unfortunately for them and also for other businesses in the same situation, the £10,000 has been passed on to the landlord who, in fact, doesn't actually have a business other than renting the premises, and the landlord here, as with other landlords, it would seem, is not going to suffer any financial loss and yet is refusing to pass on the £10,000. So, I thought maybe I'd ask you to address that and possibly as well have a word with the First Minister and ask him if he could ask his member of staff, Councillor Patel, to maybe pass on the £10,000 to Rubylicious in Cardiff West instead of pocketing it himself. I think that would be a really good thing to do. So, if you could do that, I'd be really grateful.

I'll certainly make investigations and enquiries into this specific case. I can't comment on specific cases without having all of the detail to hand, but I'll certainly investigate this matter. It's vitally important that we all work together to overcome coronavirus, not just the public health consequences but the economic consequences as well. So, I'll ask officials to look into this particular case but also just generally to take a look at how the grant arrangements are being administered across local government. 

Minister, what plans do you have to work with the UK Government to support key employers in Alyn and Deeside? Airbus, Tata steel and KK Fine Foods are amongst many who are facing uncertain challenges, business challenges, economic challenges and extreme uncertainty. Minister, we need both Governments around the table to further support these employers and to further support those employees, both directly employed and any agency staff. 

Can I thank Jack Sargeant for his question? I'm pleased to say that those companies that he's identified have benefited from direct Welsh Government support in recent times. It's absolutely vital that the support that is now being offered by UK Government in the form of the job retention scheme is lengthened. I've already mentioned in my answers to other Members how the aero-sector and, indeed, how KK Fine Foods are facing deep uncertainty right now because of a lack of detail over what will happen to the furlough scheme after the end of June, and I was reassured today by the comments from my counterpart in BEIS when he said that the UK Government are keen to avoid a cliff edge in the furlough scheme. I hope that will give some assurance to the likes of KK Fine Foods and other businesses that have issued those at-risk notices. And there is no doubt, as I've said to other Members, that the UK Government can carry out a swift learning exercise in the job retention scheme and make amendments to it that are necessary to protect as many jobs as possible in the future. As I said to Jack Sargeant at the outset of my answer, Welsh Government has stood shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Airbus, KK Fine Foods and Tata steel over many, many years, and, therefore, it's absolutely right that the UK Government now comes and joins us in supporting these vitally important employers so that they can get through coronavirus with as many jobs being retained as possible.

Many people have spoken today about the negative impact on tourism across Wales and, of course, my area is where tourism does provide a significant impact, perhaps disproportionately to other areas. We do know that tourism is worth £3 billion to the Welsh economy, but there's £2 billion-worth of funds from the Welsh Government. So, it seems very likely that, when we try to come out of lockdown and have some easement, the social distancing rules will make it virtually impossible for most tourism industries to survive, and I'm really pleased to hear what you're saying.

So, moving forward from that, I think what we need to look at, and you've hinted at it, is building up the small community innovation that we are finding, and one such innovation happened in Ammanford. I met with them two years ago, with Rob Venus, and he put in an application at that time to have some money. It's a community-based organisation that's moving on now to look at possibly building ventilators. So, I suppose my question is this: moving forward, we have to be more sustainable—that is obvious and evident from everything that's happened—and investment in innovation where it currently exists and can be expanded is probably one of the ways forward, as well as looking after the existing industries that bring vast wealth to this country.

Well, Joyce Watson is absolutely right—we've seen incredible innovation across Welsh businesses during the course of the crisis. We've seen distilleries turn their hands to making hand sanitiser, we've seen businesses in the aero sector produce ventilators, we've seen a huge number of businesses producing vital PPE, and I'm in no doubt that those efforts will continue for some weeks to come.

There will be opportunities that will emerge during the course of the recovery, and innovation will be crucial in making sure that we take full advantage of them, and that's why I'm determined to ensure that we intensify our call for businesses to utilise the calls-to-action funding, the economy futures fund that was set up to futureproof businesses, to drive R&D and innovation. One of those five calls is, of course, innovation, and I’m confident that we made the right decision when we published the economic action plan to include innovation as one of the five calls, and I'm absolutely determined to maintain it as one of the key features of our condition of funding in the years to come.

Minister, first of all, can I thank you for the help you've given to my constituency and the businesses there, particularly the ones I've written to you about? I very much await a response to some of the other areas, but it's been very helpful in those areas. The biggest employer in my constituency is Tata, as has already been raised by Members, and Tata employs not just directly but also the sub-contractors that go into Tata. So, it's a huge aspect of the economy, and my MP colleague often says it's the beating heart of our economy. But, when you speak to the Ministers in London, can you highlight the fact that the cap on CBILS at the moment is £50 million. For our counterparts in Europe, in Holland, it's €150 million, and in Germany and France it's 25 per cent of the annual turnover. Therefore, we are way behind our competitors in being able to support those large businesses, and there's also talk in Europe about states asking the EU to relax state aid rules, which is something the UK Government has always fallen behind to say they can't help. Can you, therefore, push the UK Government to actually look very carefully at how they can help Tata and particular businesses like that, because, without that type of support, we may be facing very serious challenges in the years ahead?

Yes, of course, we'll do that. I can assure David Rees we will do that and, obviously, it's a pleasure to help the businesses that he has represented in recent weeks who have faced incredible difficulties. I do hope that we're helping as many businesses as we possibly can in his constituency and across Wales overcome the challenges of coronavirus. But I think, in terms of the support that's required by Tata, a bespoke package of support is needed from UK Government. UK Government has stepped in to support some major employers elsewhere. We are pressing the case on a very regular basis, including just today, for the UK Government to support Tata, and I am hopeful that they will do so.

Thank you, Minister. We're taking a break of 10 minutes now, and can I ask Members who are taking part in the next statement to be back promptly? Diolch.

Plenary was suspended at 15:57.

The Senedd reconvened at 16:11, with the Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) in the Chair.