The following amendments have been selected: amendment 1 in the name of Rebecca Evans, and amendments 2 and 3 in the name of Siân Gwenllian. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected.

We now move on to item 11 on our agenda this afternoon, which is the Welsh Conservative debate on COVID and the economy, and I call on Paul Davies to move their motion. Paul.

Motion NDM7339 Darren Millar

To propose that the Senedd:

1. Recognises that the coronavirus pandemic is both a public health and an economic emergency. 

2. Welcomes the economic benefits afforded to Wales as a result of being part of the United Kingdom during the pandemic, including funding for:

a) the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which is protecting 316,500 livelihoods in Wales; and

b) the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme which is helping 102,000 people in Wales. 

3. Notes with concern the Centre for Towns report 'Covid and our Towns' which suggests that the economies of towns in the valleys and on the north Wales coast will be among those hardest hit by the pandemic. 

4. Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish a Covid Community Recovery Fund to provide targeted economic support for those communities most adversely affected by the pandemic.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and I move the motion tabled in the name of my colleague Darren Millar. The impact of COVID-19 on communities and sectors across Wales has been unlike anything we've seen, and whilst we must accept that the pandemic has been a public health crisis, it's also been an economic crisis too. The very nature of the virus has completely halted the normal day-to-day interactions of us all and, in turn, our economy has largely come to a halt.

For that reason, we welcome the economic benefits afforded to Wales, as a result of being part of the United Kingdom, during the pandemic. For example, we know that the coronavirus job retention scheme has helped protect over 316,000 livelihoods in Wales, and the self-employed income support scheme continues to help over 100,000 people in Wales—all very welcome interventions and all making an important contribution to supporting people in Wales. That's why I've been keen to push further collaboration between the UK and Welsh Governments so that no stone is left unturned in helping our people come through this pandemic period.

Of course, it's still very difficult to quantify the impact that the virus has and continues to have on our economy. In April alone, the UK economy shrank by 20 per cent. In that same month, unemployment in Wales almost doubled. Almost a third of the working-age population in Wales has been furloughed. Indeed, research conducted by the Learning and Work Institute in April found that 250,000 jobs in Wales were in shutdown sectors, and that equates to nearly one in five jobs across the country. The research found that if just one in four of these workers lost their jobs, unemployment could exceed the levels seen at the last recession, and that's still a fear that we must face, even as the Welsh Government starts to allow non-essential retail and other sectors to reopen.

Now, the First Minister's statement last Friday was a welcome one. Wales desperately needed to see economic activity resume, and so it's good to see that some businesses are now resuming operations and trading once again. However, we must remember that this doesn't mean that businesses on the high street or in our town centres are magically saved. Many are carrying substantial debt, many will not be able to take on their previous staff, and some will still struggle to stay afloat. Opening up some businesses is a step forward, but keeping those businesses alive is now the challenge.

The Centre For Towns report into COVID-19 and its impact on our towns rightly highlights that there are a number of challenges for businesses in Wales, both in the short term and in the medium and long terms. We know that the short-term crisis presented by the shutdown of large parts of the economy has disproportionately hit small and medium-sized coastal towns, but there's also a significant problem for businesses in the medium and long terms too. Of course, the continued closure of the hospitality sector means that thousands of jobs across Wales are still at risk, and businesses are still vulnerable. Towns like Abertillery and Aberystwyth are amongst some of the places in the UK with the highest percentage of people employed in pubs and restaurants. Without urgent intervention, the continued closure of this sector will lead to further instability for those businesses, further job losses, and the local landscape could be seriously transformed for the foreseeable future.

Small businesses like many pubs and restaurants across the country have been working hard to adapt their business models. They've innovated and they've significantly contributed to their local communities. Therefore, I hope, moving forward, the Welsh Government and local authorities will be doing everything in their power to procure goods and services locally, and, where they can, use small and medium-sized businesses to help build resilience in local communities. It's now time to double down on our procurement practices in Wales to best support those businesses and help support their recovery.

The Centre For Towns report also highlights that the impact of COVID-19 on Welsh communities has been exacerbated by existing structural inequalities that have not been tackled by the Welsh Government. The report shows that Valleys communities and seaside towns in Wales, such as Rhyl, Ebbw Vale and Maesteg, are amongst the most vulnerable to an economic downturn caused by COVID-19. Of course, many of these places are still yet to recover from the macroeconomic shift from an industrial economy to one dominated by high-skilled, white-collar employment or retail. As we already know, some of these ex-industrial and coastal towns were already in need of significant investment prior to the virus outbreak, and crucial investment is needed now more than ever.

Now, last week's statement also introduced some tentative proposals for reopening parts of the tourism industry, and the announcement confirmed that self-contained accommodation providers can start to prepare for reopening in the next few weeks. However, the feedback that I've received from tourism operators in Pembrokeshire is that, in reality, this will be a big challenge. Tourism businesses will need to prepare risk assessments, and in the event, for example, that a guest develops COVID-19 symptoms whilst on holiday, the provider will have to allow for that guest to stay and self-isolate. This, of course, results in more questions than answers for some operators—for example, who pays for the extended stay of someone shielding in a self-catering apartment or cottage? Who compensates the guests that are unable to book as a result of an extended stay?

The Welsh tourism industry is worth £3 billion to our economy, and it's these sorts of questions and much more that need to be ironed out before operators can be confident that they're able to open their doors. These questions for self-contained accommodation providers and the lack of support and clarity for so many operating in the tourism sector continue to be hugely worrying. Therefore, perhaps, in responding to our debate this afternoon, the Minister will commit to publishing a specific tourism sector strategy for the short, medium and long terms, with clear information, clear allocations of funding and clear details about how the Welsh Government will be supporting those businesses going forward.

Now, I've attended a series of online business forums to discuss the general challenges facing businesses in my own area, and I've attended a series of online business forums especially for tourism businesses in my constituency. The outcome of those discussions is clear: more support is needed, more communication and more clarity are required. And, Dirprwy Lywydd, it's not just tourism businesses that are struggling, and that are feeling left behind. I continue to receive correspondence from sole-director limited companies who simply feel that the Welsh Government isn't even acknowledging them, let alone supporting them. I've also received correspondence from business partnerships who again tell me the Welsh Government isn't acknowledging or working with them. These are people's jobs, their incomes and their livelihoods, so at the very least they deserve to be genuinely listened to and offered some support to help their businesses survive.

Members will be aware that we've called on the Welsh Government to come forward with a recovery fund for those areas most affected by COVID-19 economically, and I hope the Welsh Government will consider this. The Welsh Government needs to send a clear statement to these communities that they are being prioritised and that that support is forthcoming. We've also called on the Government to create business rate-free zones in these communities and to scrap business rates for all businesses in those zones, regardless of value, to encourage employment post pandemic. I therefore urge the Government to consider the merits of this, too. Wales's post-COVID-19 recovery will be strengthened if the Welsh Government can work with all parties, and our communities deserve no less.

The final point that I'd like to touch upon is in relation to public transport. The First Minister's announcement last week said nothing of the impact that the changes announced would mean for public transport providers, and so I'd encourage the Welsh Government to urgently undertake discussions with public transport providers to ascertain how services will need to change in light of the reopening of some businesses and schools, given that people will need to get to some of these businesses, and children will need to get to schools. I appreciate that some funding has been forthcoming to local authorities to introduce measures to improve the safety and conditions for sustainable and active travel modes in their areas in response to the COVID-19 crisis, but, with social distancing guidance to be complied with and no further support for the bus industry, it will be extremely difficult for providers to provide additional services. Therefore, I hope a further commitment to the bus industry is forthcoming so that providers can start planning future services and ensure users are able to be transported effectively and efficiently.

Therefore, in closing, Deputy Presiding Officer, I hope the Welsh Government does consider some of the outstanding concerns of businesses across Wales and establishes clearer communication and guidance to the business industry so that Wales can start to rebuild its economy once again. Thank you.

Thank you. I have selected the three amendments to the motion. If amendment 1 is agreed, amendment 2 will be deselected. Can I ask the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales to move formally amendment 1, tabled in the name of Rebecca Evans?

Amendment 1—Rebecca Evans

Delete points 3 and 4 and replace with:

Welcomes the Welsh Government’s £500m Economic Resilience Fund, part of a £1.7bn package of support for business in Wales in response to the pandemic, which is the most generous anywhere in the UK.

Notes that EU funding has helped the Welsh Government respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and further notes that without successor funding the Welsh Government will be unable to respond at this scale in any future crisis.

Notes the Centre for Towns report ‘Covid and our Towns’ and welcomes the cross-government measures the Welsh Government is taking through its Town Centre Action Group and ‘Transforming Towns’ agenda across Wales.

Recognises the important role that creative and dynamic town councils and Business Improvement Districts will play in helping town centres recover from the economic impact of Coronavirus.

Welcomes the experimental work being done through the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund to explore new ways of building resilience into towns and communities across Wales which can support our response to the covid pandemic.

Welcomes calls made by organisations including WLGA, FSB Cymru, Wales TUC, Institute for Fiscal Studies and Wales Governance Centre for the UK Government to urgently remove the fiscal restrictions that significantly limit the Welsh Government’s spending power to allow it to respond effectively to the pandemic.

Further calls on the UK Government to develop a significant economic stimulus package that can support the Welsh Government’s work towards a green and just recovery for towns and communities the length and breadth of Wales in light of the pandemic.

Amendment 1 moved.

Formally.

Thank you. Can I call on Helen Mary Jones to move amendments 2 and 3, tabled in the name of Siân Gwenllian? Helen.

Amendment 2—Siân Gwenllian

Delete point 4 and replace with:

Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish an All-Wales Renewal Fund to deal with the effects of the pandemic, that would transform sectors identified as being hit hardest by Covid-19, build a sustainable Wales by paving the way to a carbon free nation by 2030 and develop a new sense of 'localism' which values public services.

Amendment 3—Siân Gwenllian

Add as new point at end of motion:

Believes that now is the time for the UK Government to devolve further fiscal powers to the Welsh Government so that it is able to better care for the people of Wales in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amendments 2 and 3 moved.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I’m grateful to the Conservative group for tabling this important motion today. Of course, as we move out, perhaps, past the first health crisis phase of the crisis that faces us all, Paul Davies is quite right to say that the economic crisis will come into sharper focus, and I’m sure that we will continue to debate this and to scrutinise the Minister as the response to coming out of lockdown proceeds.

There’s much as a group that we can agree with in the Conservative motion, and I think it is right to be fair to the UK Government—the furlough scheme, the job retention scheme, for example, has made a tremendous difference. It’s not perfect, as I know the Minister knows, and I would urge Conservative colleagues to use what influence they may have with the Treasury to look at some of the gaps in that scheme: the new starters who were not helped and could still be helped now, and some increased flexibility in the scheme, and perhaps extending it for those sectors that can’t immediately go back to work, as we were discussing in the earlier debate on the arts, would be welcome.

The idea of a COVID recovery fund is not one that we would oppose, but, as we set out in our debate two weeks ago—and I don’t intend to set those arguments out again, Dirprwy Lywydd; I had the opportunity to do so in that debate—we feel that we need to go further than that, because this is not about recovery, this is not about going back to where we were before. There was, as Paul Davies has rightly highlighted in his speech, so much that was wrong in our economy before for so many communities and so many people. An economy that leaves a third of our children living in poverty is not one that we want to recover our way back to. This is about, for us, renewal, transformation, doing things better, moving further, hence our second amendment, which would replace the call for a COVID recovery scheme with our request for an all-Wales renewal fund—similar in its intentions, I think, but more ambitious in going further.

We also believe that the Welsh Government needs the power to be able to take the steps necessary itself, and this is why we’ve proposed our third amendment, asking for more fiscal autonomy for Wales at this time. I will refer in a moment to the Government amendment, but I think we are mistaken if we believe that we can rely on the Westminster Government to do this for us. And, if they won’t, then they must free up the hands of Welsh Government to act.

With regard to the Government amendment, we would agree, of course, with the point about the European Union, and there are other things in there that we could welcome, but I come back to this point about whether or not we can rely on the UK Government to dig us out of this hole. We’re not at all sure that that is the case. We believe it is the time to take more power into our own hands here in Wales to enable us to build back.

Now, Deputy Presiding Officer, if I wished to be churlish, I could say that I wasn’t really very keen on taking lessons on the economy from either the Labour Party or the Conservative Party. When it comes to the Conservative Party, their decade of austerity has left our communities and our economy fundamentally weak—you could say holed under the waterline—and they need to take some responsibility for some of the problems that Paul Davies has outlined. And when it comes to the Labour Party, of course, well, they could have reformed the Barnett formula decades ago when they had power to do so and chose not to, and they have been running the economy of Wales, alone or with others, for 20 years. But be that as it may, this is not a time for sniping, and I found much to support in Paul Davies’s contribution. This is a time when we all want and need Welsh Government to succeed. I think we are all, right across this Chamber, as one in that. The question is how best to do it. We can only respond effectively to this crisis, to build an economy that isn’t just greener and fairer, but green and fair, if we are able to borrow to invest and take the powers into our own hands to make that possible.

Thank you. Janet Finch-Saunders.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. COVID-19 is a health emergency. It is also an economic emergency. The number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits in Wales has almost doubled to 103,869 in April. That is 6.8 per cent of the Welsh workforce, worse than the UK average of 5.8 per cent. Aberconwy has not avoided this crisis. In fact, we have been seriously hit from all directions. And, as you know, whilst tourism has an estimated worth of more than £3 billion to the Welsh economy, the economic benefit here in Conwy is £900 million.

The stark situation facing us is supported by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, which found that Conwy is the top area of Wales and one of the top 20 areas in the UK where the highest percentage of jobs are at risk. The reality is that we could lose 13,000 jobs and this is hardly news. I wrote to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales about the crisis on 1 May and subsequently undertook a virtual meeting. However, I see no action on any proposals that a strategy must be put together to help Conwy. You have the powers, you have the levers; we just need your will.

Now, I am not alone in being extremely grateful to the UK Conservative Government for the immense financial support it has provided to you as a Government to support our businesses. The coronavirus job retention scheme is protecting 316,500 livelihoods in Wales, including 7,200 in Aberconwy. The self-employed income support scheme is providing support for 102,000 people in Wales and is worth £273 million to those who are self-employed, £6.3 million of that coming to Aberconwy.

For the UK Government's efforts to support Wales and Aberconwy to have the best possible outcome, the Welsh Government needs to enable the economic dragon to roar again. In fact, 77 per cent of respondents support the statement that the Welsh Government should develop a new economic recovery plan for Wales that puts supporting small and medium-sized businesses and business investment at the heart of their recovery plans. 

As I've already proven, there is need for Aberconwy but also for the whole of Wales. The Centre for Towns report found that 28 per cent of employees in coastal towns are in sectors covered by the shutdown. Wales is the worst-performing area of the UK with regard to its economic well-being, with a score of -0.77. And we have a higher proportion of workers employed in industries most affected by lockdown measures compared to both England and Northern Ireland. I am therefore shocked that, despite the UK Government providing the Welsh Government with over £2.2 billion to combat COVID-19, the supplementary budget has only allocated £1.81 billion-worth of consequentials.

So, I ask: where is the rest of this money? You should be doing more to establish a COVID community recovery fund to provide targeted economic support. You should be amending the economic resilience fund so that businesses that continue to fall through the net can put a case forward for discretionary assistance. You should be urgently allowing bed and breakfasts that pay council tax to access grant support, and you must create business rate-free zones where all businesses will be free from paying business rates for up to three years. You should scrap business rates for businesses under £15,000 outside of the BRF zones. You must provide clear guidance to the tourist sector as to how accommodation can safely reopen, and it can. 

You should be responding positively to calls by our business leaders here in north Wales for a £700,000 ignition fund to help reignite the region's economy. The ignition fund proposal is fascinating as it could see freelancers, the self-employed and micro businesses work together to develop and offer new products and services, as well as help to accelerate new major capital investments here in north Wales. Clearly, you can act to help the economy without having to pursue Plaid Cymru's suggestion of devolving further fiscal powers. I implore you, Minister, to carefully consider our proposal, and the ignition fund, which would see support reach communities that have been most adversely affected by this COVID-19 crisis. Diolch yn fawr. 

Thank you. Jenny Rathbone.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. This is certainly not the time to be untying the links with the UK Government, because there's no way the Welsh Government could have afforded the coronavirus job retention fund, or indeed the self-employed fund, to which Janet Finch-Saunders has referred. So, I won't be supporting the Plaid proposals. But I think it's important that we concentrate on what we can do, and we need to do that in a way that supports the science, the safe scientific advice for unlocking our economy without seeing a second wave, which would, in itself, be completely disastrous for our economy. 

So, looking at the Centre for Towns report, which is in the Conservative motion, I agree with them that we do need to engage with local cultural, leisure and sporting clubs to understand what they're going to need to start operating again safely. In many cases, I agree that these institutions are the bedrock of many of our towns, and we know that local cultural projects are effective ways of bringing people back into town centres rather than going off to out-of-town shopping. That's certainly been the experience of places like Neath, with its music festivals over the last three years. And certainly, as a representative of Cardiff, I'm fully aware that the huge events like Cardiff Pride, our big sporting events, the big-named concerts at the Motorpoint Arena normally attract people to our capital city from the rest of Wales and well beyond that. And I have no absolutely no illusion that now is going to be the time to resume those sorts of activities until we have a vaccine. So, we have to do things differently.

Cardiff city is famous for its independent music sector, not just Clwb Ifor Bach and other businesses around Womanby Street, but the Globe, the Gate, the Tramshed, and, until 18 months ago, Gwdihŵ, which was evicted from Guildford Crescent after a decade of wonderful music making to make way for developers. And I fear that it's inevitable that the vultures will be hovering now ready to swoop down on vulnerable businesses in order to sweep them away and put in faceless developments. So, we have to be alive to that and protect our town centres. 

Last night, I bicycled down to the city centre to see the excellent work going on by Cardiff Council around Cardiff Castle to prepare it as this summer's cultural centre for music, eating out, sharing a drink and a catch-up with our friends. And using a castle close to the city centre is something that I think Caerphilly and Conwy might be looking at as a model, both being endowed with handsome castles in the middle of their towns, which could be used in a similar way. So, we can see how this will work very well for performances involving music, which are relatively easy to broadcast outdoors, but we cannot forget the wider arts. 

What about the comedy clubs and the theatres that need suitable outdoor spaces in order to perform? The Romans and the Elizabethans managed to perform their plays outdoors; could our football club stadiums double up as performing arts spaces? Could we use their substantial car parks as drive-in cinemas? All our cultural institutions are under threat, and I fear that the town centre report is somewhat complacent in saying that the biggest institutions are best equipped to call for support, and therefore, we should all only focus on the smaller clubs and arts facilities being left behind. We know that our national cultural icons, like the Wales Millennium Centre, are also at risk, because in this country, across the UK, we rely on cultural institutions to get most of their funding from ticket sales. Eighty-five per cent of the Wales Millennium Centre's revenue comes from ticket sales, and it's predicted to lose £15 million from ticket sales, and another £5 million from commercial sponsorship and sales. So, I can't envisage how we are going to get that sort of money from the Welsh Government; we are going to be reliant on ensuring that the UK Government knows the value of our culture, and not just the cost.

So I do hope that we can unite on ensuring that our cultural institutions are safeguarded, and we don't see attempts to use this as an opportunity to ensure that cultural institutions are forced to be reduced in size, as we've seen with the BBC, where cuts are already being discussed for over 60 staff in BBC Wales. We really do need our town centres to be vibrant cultures and getting together, as well as shopping.

I'm pleased to take part in this debate this afternoon. Llywydd, we entered lockdown as a United Kingdom and as four nations, and I believe that it's, sadly, deeply damaging to the Welsh economy that we're easing lockdown in a disunited way. Yesterday, we saw the Prime Minister announce an ease of social distancing guidance and reopening of the hospitality sector. Of course, that was relevant for England. And this will allow parts of our economy, in parts of the United Kingdom, to reopen in a cautious and measured way.

Now interestingly, all of the UK's chief medical officers were unanimous in their view that the COVID-19 alert level should be lowered. Now, I'm not for one instance suggesting that some of the decisions that Governments have to make are easy—far from it. But I firmly do believe that we do need a review of the 2m rule, and trusting our business community and the public to act responsibly, with common sense. So I think my message is: let's trust our businesses. And the feedback I get from my constituents, on a border constituency like Montgomeryshire, indicates that people are crying out for a unified and co-ordinated approach to lifting economic restrictions across the UK.

One of the key sectors, of course, of the mid Wales economy is hospitality and that industry. I notice a Bevan Foundation report highlights that rural Wales is amongst those parts of Wales with a higher number of businesses closed due to COVID-19. So, I just think that businesses need aspiration and hope, and they're crying out for something, and I just believe that the Welsh Government needs to be giving that leadership and hope to many of our smaller businesses in particular. Many hospitality and tourism businesses are ready to implement proper distancing and reopen their premises, but I think it's the uncertainty and the confusion that is putting our hospitality industry, sadly, on the brink of collapse. One example is the sad news that Castell Howell, one of our biggest food companies in Wales, has announced that it may have to make up to 700 people redundant if clarity and a clear roadmap isn't forthcoming from the Welsh Government at the earliest opportunity.

I think it's also important that I touch on the housing market—an issue that has been raised by estate agents with me. Again, many of the estate agents operating in my constituency work across the border, in England and Wales. And estate agents are, understandably, demanding that we have a UK approach, because people in Wales aren't able to enter a property unless it's vacant. And it escapes me why we couldn't simply have moved to viewings being conducted in that way in a unified position. Welsh homeowners are unable to sell, whilst English sellers have an advantage.

Another casualty, sadly, during this pandemic is the mid Wales-based Laura Ashley, which has been an iconic part of the mid-Wales economy for the best part of 60 years. Laura Ashley and her husband started that business just up the road from where I was brought up in Carno, employing 550 highly skilled loyal staff now, or that was the case at the beginning of the year.

I'm very pleased that the Minister brought forward a statement on this earlier this afternoon, so maybe that gives the Minister an opportunity to address how he thinks some of those who have been made redundant in recent weeks can be supported by the Welsh Government. I have to say, I don't think that the end of that company is particularly down to the pandemic; I think other issues were at play as well, but I'm sure that the economic confidence in Wales, which has been dented by the pandemic, has perhaps put a pressure on undermining the CEOs of Laura Ashley's ability to find a financial backer during the uncertain economic times. And the knock-on consequences of COVID-19 I think will be felt in every part of Wales for some time to come.

As I draw my remarks to an end, Deputy Presiding Officer, I listened to Helen Mary's contribution, and I'm sorry that Plaid can't support our recovery fund, but I did hear a lot of what Helen Mary said—there was much, I think, that we can agree on. Our country can't afford to fall further behind the rest of the UK, so I would strongly urge the Welsh Government not to micromanage the economy. We must have the courage to reopen our economy in a cautious and measured way. And I'll end with a phrase from Michael Plaut to Meirion Morgan in their recent report for Gorwel:

'The future of Wales doesn’t belong to the faint hearted, it belongs to the brave.'

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

We note with concern the Centre for Towns's report 'The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on our towns and cities', which suggests that the economies of towns in the Valleys and on the north Wales coast will be amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic. As mentioned in my address during the Brexit debate, the threat to our Valleys towns from the lockdown is very real. If we do not carry on interventions post coronavirus, perhaps for years to come, it could be that many of these towns will never recover.

There is evidence that many banks have used this crisis to accelerate the use of remote working, meaning that they may be in a position to close even more of their branches. They have shown they have no social conscience with regard to these closures, so they will base their decisions on pure economics. As they were an important catalyst in creating footfall in town centres, the knock-on effect for our towns of these continuing closures will be substantial. It is clear that only Government interventions, particularly for the foundation economy, will save these vulnerable communities. But we must act now—to wait will be too late. In his reply to this debate, could the Minister indicate any long-term interventions planned by his Government?

Over these past few months, efforts have been rightly focused on the health impacts of the pandemic, but we are now in a position where it is also right that detailed focus, clear leadership and fiscal support is given to stimulate the Welsh economy. As we look to relax some of the more restrictive aspects of lockdown, it is vital that the Welsh Government not only provides effective support to ignite our economy, but also reviews our economic road map and commits to futureproofing Wales in terms of industry sector development. Therefore, I'd like to focus my contribution on two sectors that are vital to ensuring the prosperity of my constituency and neighbouring parts of south-west Wales, today and in the future.

The Welsh Government has talked of the importance of building a new green economy, which will focus on renewable energy, sustainable business, and building upon the reduction in carbon emissions, which has been one of the few welcome consequences of lockdown. There needs to be more than talk. Developing a green economy is vital for our planet, vital for our shared prosperity and should build on wider understanding and acceptance of this agenda by most people. The Welsh Government has been saying this since I was first elected. I remember Jane Davidson and her report on green jobs, written by a lonely civil servant somewhere in Cathays. We need to see commitment to building a green economy and west Wales is in a unique position to take advantage of this opportunity. 

Over recent weeks I have spoken to several businesses seeking to develop new technology and work alongside some of the more established sustainable energy businesses based along the Haven Waterway. Businesses such as Seawind, a company that is developing a unique two-blade floating wind turbine, which will have the capacity to be located far out to sea and hopefully manufactured and assembled in Wales. Seawind would join other innovative companies, such as Bombora, Tidal Energy Ltd, Marine Power Systems—and there are many others—looking to develop concepts and pilot projects in the south Pembrokeshire wave demonstration zone. However, Minister, I am concerned, in a competing arena, with demand for business support at record levels, whether these companies will be given the support they need to manufacture and be supported with their research and development. 

You have said that you wish to create a greener economy, but if you are to be true to your word, when it comes to creating a greener economy, you will need to take tough decisions, take calculated risks in backing start-ups, invest in new technologies and provide the resources and access to support those companies will require. Would you be prepared to attend a round-table event to discuss with renewable companies in my constituency, both new and established, what support they need to mainstream their product and embed it into the Welsh economy?  

And, Minister, if green is the future, then hospitality industries are the here and now and, with support, will solidify Wales's reputation for destination marketing in the future. This is an industry that's been especially hard hit from this pandemic and one that's felt the immediate impact of Welsh Government inaction when it comes to relaxing freedoms of movement to allow businesses to reopen. With the summer months being key to a seasonal industry, such as tourism, the lack of certainty over reoening and the effective closure of Welsh borders, to both visitors from other countries and those in Wales, has the potential to have a devastating impact on tourism, especially in the smaller microtourism sector who epitomise successful destination marketing experiences. Many can adhere to social distancing rules and provide visitors with a much-needed escape to Wales.

However, the difference in pace of openings between Wales and England is forcing customers to look elsewhere. Eighty per cent of annual guests to Wales have been before. Opening later than other destinations will jolt visitors into new habitats—habits, not habitats, but it is also a habitat, I suppose—forcing them to try new destinations they would not otherwise consider. Losing guests for one season is therefore very likely to translate into a permanent loss of Wales's loyal guests to other destinations, further impacting on an already challenging path to recovery for the sector.

Tourism operators of all sizes have also been concerned over the advice they were receiving from Visit Wales. I have heard of how businesses were being encouraged not to promote themselves on social media during the lockdown, as it may encourage visitors to want to break the rules and pay the area a visit. Minister, this is an arm of Welsh Government tasked with promoting Wales and supporting the tourism and hospitality sector. Providing advice to not continue to engage and develop relationships with visitors is an extraordinary stand. Wales should have been saying, 'Delay your stay' not 'Stay away'.

The impact of the Welsh Government's slow pace of action will not just affect the tourism industry, but it will also affect the viability of the local communities and nearby retail businesses. With international travel being ruled out for many this year, we have never had a better opportunity to encourage staycations, promote Wales as a destination and promote the environmentally friendly aspect of holidaying in Wales. 

Minister, we want to work together to help Wales emerge stronger from the crisis. We recognise the value of rural Wales's tourism to the Welsh economy and we must ensure that no-one is left behind. We have some fantastic businesses in Wales—there's a load in my constituency—and we have the potential to develop more across all sectors. I urge you to back our motion today and to demonstrate to the people of Wales that by working together we can thrive as a nation in the years ahead.

Thank you. Can I now call the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates? 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I begin by saying that the Welsh Government very much welcomes this debate from the Welsh Conservatives? And, obviously, whilst we recognise that the coronavirus pandemic is, obviously, a public health and an economic emergency, public health does, undoubtedly, come first. This public health crisis is not over yet. As the First Minister has said, through the public's extraordinary efforts, we've succeeded in brining the fire of coronavirus under control. But, Dirprwy Lywydd, that fire is certainly not out, and the worst thing that could happen to the economy of Wales and the UK is a second spike, which is why any rational approach has to be cautious. And we've seen very worrying spikes in places like Florida and Germany just this week, and, of course, just this afternoon, New York has announced that it will introduce quarantines involving people from parts of the US where there is still a significant problem with coronavirus.

So, as I've said on numerous occasions, Dirprwy Lywydd, we strongly welcomed the support schemes that the UK Government has introduced during the course of this crisis. Wales is part of the United Kingdom, and it's only right that we receive a fair share of support for this non-devolved mater. And we sought to work very closely with the UK Treasury and with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as well as with Scotland and Northern Ireland, throughout this economic crisis to draw on the strengths of being part of that collective whole. But the UK Government must—absolutely must—avoid a cliff edge when it comes to ending the furlough and self-employment schemes, and I think we all accept that the full impact will not be revealed until the autumn, when these are scheduled to be wound down.

Now, we're doing all we can to mitigate the effects, and our £1.7 billion package of support means that Welsh businesses have access to the most generous and extensive help for businesses anywhere in the United Kingdom. In addition to those sectors and those business types that have been assisted so far, we will soon be launching a start-up bursary. To date, more than 60,000 grants have already been paid to businesses in Wales, and the Development Bank of Wales's loan facility, created to help deal with the impact of the virus, has already allocated almost £100 million to more than 1,200 businesses. In addition, Dirprwy Lywydd, the second phase of our Wales-only economic resilience fund opens for applications on Monday. I should also point out that, here in Wales, small businesses with premises with a rateable value of less than £12,000 already receive small business rate relief. They've been essential lifelines that have safeguarded thousands of jobs.

But that said, we need to complement our package of business support by providing crucial assistance to people who might have lost their jobs or training opportunities because of the pandemic. This is particularly relevant today, given the written statement that I have issued regarding Laura Ashley in mid Wales, and, of course, we will be offering every available support to the affected workforce there.

Now, as I announced last week, we've taken steps to assist people who face job loss by offering a comprehensive package of support that will allow people to upskill and find new employment, so that we can protect a generation, and particularly the most vulnerable in our society, from the potential scarring of unemployment, and we'll use £40 million from our economic resilience fund to deliver this. But we also, Dirprwy Lywydd, need to ensure that this package dovetails with any initiatives that the UK Government might introduce, and we need to avoid, if at all possible, any duplication.

So, it's absolutely crucial that the UK Government also provides further support for people who are currently furloughed and those at risk of losing their jobs. And we'll be watching very closely when the Chancellor of the Exchequer presents his anticipated statement before Parliament ceases next month.

Now, of course, our capacity and our ability to get money to the front line has been constrained by the rigid financial rules imposed by the UK Government, as Helen Mary Jones has identified. There are strict limits in the extent to which we can carry forward funds from one year to the next, and we have a maximum reserve of just £350 million. Furthermore, around £700 million comes to Wales now from the EU, and whereas there are short-term reassurances from UK Government on aspects of this, we need to protect our interests in the longer term funding decisions, particularly in respect of a possible shared prosperity fund and future agricultural and rural development funding. Indeed, more than £0.25 billion of European structural and investment funds have been redirected to fund health crisis interventions during this pandemic.

Now, the risk of the EU leaving the transition period without a deal on our future relationship with the EU is very real indeed. All credible evidence suggests that there will be significant adverse economic consequences of such an abrupt and drastic change to our trading relationship with the EU. So, we'll hold the UK Government to promises made that Wales will not be a penny worse off as a result of leaving the EU and that the Welsh Government will continue to be responsible for deploying these funds in Wales.

Now, while we continue to wait to hear about that particular funding, our transforming towns agenda does continue at full pace and, earlier this year, we set out a further package of support for town centres worth nearly £90 million. I believe that this support is more important than ever before. Last month, we also pledged support for business improvement districts in Wales to support their running costs during the coronavirus pandemic.

And in the context of reopening our town centres post COVID, transforming towns funding is already delivering green infrastructure schemes. In total, they'll be worth around £9 million across Wales when completed. The funding is also supporting our coastal communities through the latest round of the coastal communities fund, which opened just last week. That fund is providing industry-leading expertise and finance for local authorities to address the issue of those empty and neglected properties that blight our high streets. Just last weekend, we also announced a further £15.4 million for COVID-proof travel, making it safer and easier for people to get around their local towns. 

Towns across Wales—right across Wales—are benefiting from the range of transforming town programmes, including, I've got to say, Dirprwy Lywydd, the north Wales coast. Colwyn Bay is benefiting from over £3 million of regeneration investment, Rhyl is seeing huge investment of around £20 million, and, in Holyhead, a project worth more than £4 million has transformed the historic market hall. In addition, in the South Wales Valleys, the taskforce that's chaired by the Deputy Minister has met regularly since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and is currently reviewing priorities in light of this pandemic.

Programmes such as the empty homes grant scheme and the foundational economy challenge fund will play a crucial part in the coming months and years and we'll be drawing out the learning from these projects to inform future policy thinking and also to feed into recovery priorities. 

Now, the impact of coronavirus is vast and wide-reaching, but it could be a moment for fundamental change in our economy so that we can, as I've said on numerous occasions, build back better to ensure that our future is fairer, more inclusive and more sustainable. 

Thank you. Before I call Mark Isherwood to reply to the debate, is there a Member that wishes a short intervention? No. Therefore, I'll call Mark Isherwood to reply to the debate. Mark Isherwood. 

Paul Davies opened for us by emphasising that the coronavirus pandemic is both a public health and economic emergency, with high numbers of employees furloughed in Wales, the threat to jobs and the need to understand the challenges facing businesses, especially small and medium businesses. He talked about the structural inequalities in Wales that haven't been tackled by the Welsh Government over more than two decades. He talked about the lack of clarity in support for the tourism sector and called for a recovery plan to be agreed with the tourism sector and with public transport providers.

Helen Mary Jones said that Plaid don't oppose our call for a COVID community recovery fund and then said that it's not just about going back to where we were before, and we agree, and therefore, hopefully, you can support our proposal. She also, I regret, illustrated why we shouldn't take lessons on the economy from Plaid Cymru. 

Janet Finch-Saunders talked about the numbers claiming unemployment benefit doubling during this crisis. Conwy have the highest percentage of jobs at risk in Wales. She was grateful to the UK Government for the financial support it's provided for Welsh business and said the Welsh economic dragon needs to be enabled to roar again.

Jenny Rathbone talked about this not being the time to be untying the links with the UK Government, about the need to bring people back into town centres and protect both vulnerable businesses and arts and cultural facilities. Russell George talked about the damage caused by the Welsh Government's disunited approach to unlocking lockdown, from estate agents to Laura Ashley. He said Wales can't afford to fall further behind the rest of the UK, and concluded that the future of Wales belongs to the brave. David Rowlands talked about the threat to Valleys towns, Angela Burns about the need for clear focus and leadership as we move forward, and the need to replace years of Welsh Government rhetoric with real action on building a green economy, and she said, if green is the future, hospitality businesses are the here and now. Economy Minister Ken Skates pointed out that the public health crisis is not over yet—no dispute. He welcomed UK Government support schemes, but spoke of the need for them to avoid duplication with Welsh Government schemes, when, in reality, of course, it's the Welsh Government that needs to avoid duplication with UK schemes. He then provided us with the usual long list of Welsh Government schemes of past, present and potentially future.

The Welsh Government's delay in the reopening of the economy has been damaging to the fragile Welsh economy. Take passenger transport, where the industry presented a proposal to the Welsh Government on 15 May that would enable operators to ramp up bus services with full costings, but they've still not received a considered official response and Wales is now the only country in the UK that has not agreed funding for transport operators to begin to ramp-up services to cover costs for additional services.

Take our bed-and-breakfast sector: in England and Scotland, grants are available to bed-and-breakfast operators who didn't qualify for any other COVID-19 grant support schemes. In Wales, however, legitimate bed-and-breakfast businesses have been denied access to equivalent grants. As one affected business asked me today: 'This was our main and only income. Could you inform Ken Skates, Mark Drakeford and other Ministers in the Welsh Labour Government that we're now at breaking point, physically, mentally and emotionally?' This is disgraceful.

Take our crucial housing market: the Welsh Government has failed to open the housing market in Wales alongside the rest of UK, where the rest of UK is taking sensible precautions to protect everybody. Take dental practitioners: in England, they've reopened with strict rules, but, in Wales, they've told me that the health Minister's written response to me last week can only be described as spin, and that most of the Welsh Government statements from last week were undone rapidly over the weekend by further backtracking statements and a change of process.

Take holiday let businesses: the Welsh Government has announced that self-catering businesses could reopen on 13 July, as long as they adhere to the Government guidelines. A decision will be taken about this on 9 July, and the economy Minister Ken Skates told  north Wales media that comprehensive guidance has been put in place for the tourism and hospitality sector to ensure that the sector can be restarted in a safe way. But self-catering businesses are telling me, 'I've just spoken to our council and they don't have the guidance,' and asking, 'What are the guidelines and where do I find them?'

And finally, take our town centres. The Centre for Towns found that Wales is the worst-performing area of the UK with regard to its economic well-being, and that specific communities, including ex-industrial towns in parts of Wales, will need an effective support mechanism at a local level to support businesses to plan their recovery strategies, echoing the work of the Carnegie Trust.

Taking all this together, I commend this motion and urge everybody to support it, recognising that this pandemic is both a public health and an economic emergency. Diolch yn fawr.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

The question, then, is whether the motion without amendment is agreed. [Objection.] There is an objection, and we'll defer voting on this until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.