Unemployment in Wales will certainly rise sharply, despite the measures that have been put in place by both the UK and Welsh Governments. The most disadvantaged—those on low pay, in insecure employment, and people with poor health—will be most at risk. Young people entering the labour market will face a particularly tough time, and the evidence from previous recessions shows that this could result in lasting negative impacts on their incomes, health, well-being and even life expectancy.

To fund the action we've taken, we have received an increase in our budget in the form of consequentials from spending by the UK Government on measures in England. To date, we're expecting over £2.1 billion, which is well over 10 per cent of our planned budget.

In order to protect the NHS and save lives, we have needed to take difficult decisions to fund activities that prepare us for the worst in the hope that they're not fully required. We have also taken decisive action to free up, through reprioritising and repurposing, more than £0.5 billion from our own budget and European funding to support the Welsh economy and ensure our public services are equipped to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

From this coronavirus response reserve, we have already provided over £300 million to the NHS to support priorities including the supply of PPE, field hospital provision, investment in testing and tracing, and NHS recruitment.

We're also taking decisive action to protect the most disadvantaged people in society. We've provided an extra £11 million of immediate support for those facing hardship as a result of the pandemic, £15 million to establish weekly food parcels for those who are shielded, and £24 million for a third sector COVID-19 response fund, targeted at the pressures that charities and the third sector are facing. We have also announced additional support of up to £6.3 million for hospices in Wales.

Alongside these actions, we're also giving an extra £500 to everyone working on the front line in social care, recognising that the market rate for the job in no way reflects the huge importance of the work that they do.

We have acted to protect the vital public services provided by our local authorities through a £110 million local authority hardship fund, and this includes £40 million to get food to families entitled to free school meals while schools are closed, £40 million to support the extra costs adult social care services are now facing, in addition to the £500 payment I have just referred to, and £10 million to help councils take immediate action to protect the homeless and those who are sleeping rough.

We've also deployed an unprecedented package of measures to support the economy and protect jobs. We're investing £1.7 billion in addition to vital measures launched by the UK Government, such as the job retention scheme. Our support includes more than £1 billion that local government is distributing on our behalf in business rate relief and associated grants to businesses in the hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors.

We've also established a £500 million economic resilience fund to offer vital support for businesses, charities and social enterprises, over and above that which is available in England. Of this £500 million, the £100 million Development Bank of Wales loan fund has already approved over 1,300 loans, totalling over £100 million, safeguarding 15,000 jobs. 

The remaining £400 million grant fund is offering support particularly to those small and medium-sized firms that are crucial to the Welsh economy, alongside our charities and social enterprises. The application process for this fund saw an incredible 9,500 claims submitted in little more than a week. As of today, £70 million of support from this fund has already been offered to more than 5,000 businesses, charities and social enterprises and is starting to land in bank accounts across Wales. As a result of the actions we've taken, Welsh businesses, charities and social enterprises can access the most generous business support offer in the whole of the UK.

The Minister for economy and transport and I urged the UK Government to extend the job retention scheme, and I welcome the announcement made by the Chancellor yesterday. Only the UK Government has the fiscal capacity to operate the major schemes that we need to protect people and businesses from the worst excesses of the crisis.

As is the case with other devolved nations, this means that the major funding we deploy as a Welsh Government would be severely undermined if the job retention scheme was weakened or terminated at the wrong time. The UK Treasury did not consult devolved nations on the latest decision, but the Chancellor can improve on this and work now to engage with us before major decisions are taken in the coming weeks.

I will be publishing a supplementary budget on 27 May, providing greater clarity on the changes to our budget since March, which will focus on providing more detail on the actions we have taken to respond to the coronavirus.

As our focus shifts from the immediate impacts of this crisis towards recovery, there are many remaining uncertainties ahead. We may need to find more funding to deal with the immediate crisis and fund restart and recovery efforts, and we also face the risk of further changes to our budget by the UK Government later in the year.

I will also continue to press the UK Government to provide greater fiscal flexibility to help us manage in these unprecedented times. In particular, I am seeking greater access to the Wales reserve this year, relaxation of our borrowing limits, and greater scope to switch between revenue and capital budgets. The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies has also recently argued for such changes to be made to help Wales respond to the crisis.

In conclusion, every day we are facing tough choices about using our stretched and limited resources. While these circumstances will continue to require further difficult decisions, we will continue to make the right choices, based on the best evidence, and on our values. Thank you very much.