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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 10 June 2020.

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Photo of David Rees David Rees Labour 2:20, 10 June 2020

Minister, the Welsh Government has funded many businesses—I think, in your press release earlier today, you indicated that over 8,000 businesses have benefitted from the economic resilience fund. Now, that fund is about £400 million and for small and medium-sized enterprises, and I'm sure you and I appreciate that some of our anchor businesses, such as the air industries, mainly in the north, and the steel industries, mainly in the south, would eat that money up in one go, and therefore one business would get that. Therefore, the funding and the levers are not necessarily with the Welsh Government but with the UK Government. And we've heard an awful lot about Project Birch and how it's supposed to be helping these types of industries. To date, we've seen nothing happen and we know that the industries are going to be facing crucial times ahead of us as other European countries are helping their steel sectors, and China is also coming out of this. Are you knocking on the doors of Westminster and even 10 Downing Street to demand that the UK Government now enacts Project Birch and supports these large businesses, because they are the mainstays of much of our economies, both in the north and south of Wales?