Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 10 June 2020.
Can I thank Mark Isherwood for that question? I would, first of all, have to understand why they were not eligible for support through the ERF phase 2, but I will also say that we do have the most generous and comprehensive package of support for businesses anywhere in the United Kingdom. If they are not eligible for support through the ERF grant, I would be very keen to know whether they've been able to secure support to date through the job retention scheme, through the self-employment support scheme, or any other scheme. And if that is not the case, if they are truly are not able to attract support, and if they have seen a huge decrease in their turnover as a result of coronavirus, and if they do depend on those business operations for their livelihood, and if they meet all of that criteria, then, of course—of course—they are a business that we wish to support, and that is why we are carrying out work with our local authority colleagues on the potential introduction of a hardship bursary that will run alongside the ERF phase 2.
But, first and foremost, I would need to understand the circumstances that those businesses are in, because, as I've said, there is, in some parts, a misunderstanding about what is actually available at a UK-Government level, and some businesses—only some, but some businesses—have been waiting to check whether they are eligible for more support from the Welsh Government schemes before applying for support from those UK Government schemes. It's absolutely vital, given the finite pot of money that we have, that if a business is able to get support through the job retention scheme, or through the self-employment support scheme, they go to those schemes first, because our finite resource, the economic resilience fund, is designed to plug the gaps. Now, if the businesses that you're referring to, Mark, are truly falling through the gaps, we want to help them.