3. What assessment has the First Minister made of the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Welsh economy? OQ55357

I thank the Member, Llywydd. The Welsh Government's chief economist provides regular advice on the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the Welsh economy. That advice is reported monthly to the COVID core group of Ministers and others, which meets every Wednesday.

I thank the First Minister for that reply. After 20 years of devolution, 22 per cent of the people of Wales of working age are living in poverty, and the average disposable income in Wales is only three quarters of the average in the United Kingdom. Those in poverty are more likely to be hit by the economic impacts of COVID than anybody else. The Learning and Work Institute Cymru has said recently that Wales is more exposed than many other parts of the UK to the economic impact of lockdown, and we've got the highest proportion, at 18 per cent, of workers employed in industries most affected by lockdown measures. So, if unemployment goes up amongst those groups, we're going to be in a very serious economic predicament in Wales.

Cardiff University has shown in a paper published this week that Wales's lowest earners are 10 times more likely to have been affected by COVID-19 shutdown than those on the highest salaries. So, isn't it true, First Minister, that a harsher lockdown and a longer lockdown means that Wales will go backwards and those at the lowest levels of income in society are going to be the ones who suffer most? So, considering that the economic effects of the lockdown will hit the poorest hardest, how do you justify keeping Wales in lockdown whilst the rest of the United Kingdom opens up?

Well, Llywydd, while I don't disagree with some of the Member's diagnosis, I very much disagree with his description of the recipe. He is right to say that coronavirus has a disproportionate impact on some members of our society, and those most disadvantaged to begin with feel the impact of this disease most significantly. The best way to help them is to make sure that the Welsh economy has a smooth and reliable recovery from coronavirus—that we don't have a recovery in which we open up too much too soon and then see a clampdown being needed again so the economy goes into reverse.

So, he offers us a sort of Texas approach to coronavirus, in which you lift the lockdown rapidly, you let all sorts of things resume again because you think that's right for the economy, and, lo and behold, the virus is off circulating again everywhere and you have to clamp down all over again. That is what we're avoiding here in Wales in the way that we are doing things. We are reopening our economy, we are doing it step by step, we are monitoring it as we go, we are doing our best to make sure that we can have confidence in our economy and that we will not find ourselves in a position of having to put all of that into reverse, because nothing could be worse for the economy or for those people who rely on it. 

First Minister, last week, the UK Government introduced the Business and Planning Bill in Parliament, which included a set of urgent measures to help businesses adjust to new ways of working to respond to the current pandemic. The hospitality industry in Wales have said that it needs a clear road map for reopening and Government support to get back on its feet. So, I think it certainly will be important that, in the short term, any obstacles are removed that could get in the way, including easing restrictions in the planning and licensing system in particular. As I understand it, the planning Bill has a mix of measures, both reserved and devolved areas. How is the Welsh Government going to respond to the devolved areas and how is any legislation in particular going to support the hospitality sector?

Well, Llywydd, we've been in direct discussions with the hospitality sector over the last week and a half, looking for ways in which we might be able to reopen outdoor hospitality here in Wales with the necessary mitigating measures, and I'm grateful to the sector for all the ideas that they have contributed, for the work that they are doing with us to draw up guidance for the sector, in the hope that we will be able to do that alongside them. It has to be done in a way that puts the health of the public first, and that's what we're working on, and taking advice from our chief medical officer, of course, in the process.

The legislation in the House of Commons is, as Russell George said, a mixture of devolved and non-devolved. On the non-devolved side, it will passport licences that public houses, for example, have to serve alcohol indoors, will passport that to allow them to serve it outdoors. Other aspects will fall to legislation that is in the hands of the Senedd and we will think carefully about what we need to do there. 

So, for example, to give the Member an idea of the complexity, which I'm sure he's alert to in any case, many cafes and restaurants may look to be able to operate outside on the pavement in front of their properties. We have to balance that with the rights of other users: disabled people, wheelchair users, people who are partially sighted—people who rely on being able to use pavements in a way that is unimpeded and don't cause difficulties to them. So, there is more than one interest to think of, and the way that we will do it in Wales is to work with the sector to find a proper balance between those things so we can do the things that are necessary to allow that sector to open up again, but we don't do it at the expense of rights that others have to lead their lives in ways that allow them to go about their lawful business unimpeded.

First Minister, Jack Sargeant has already highlighted the crisis in the aviation sector, which is a major sector within the Welsh economy, and another sector in the Welsh economy is the steel industry, which is also facing very serious challenges. Last week, the UK Government seemed to have briefed the Financial Times that a request for funding from Tata would be approved, but the UK Government has yet to actually announce any such approval, and, as such, the industry doesn't know where it stands. Steelworkers and their families deserve better; they deserve certainty. Will you continue to pressurise the UK Government to actually approve this request for funding, because the customers of steel have basically disappeared because of the coronavirus? We need the industry to keep on going. It is critical to the Welsh economy and we need that support from the UK Government.

Llywydd, I completely agree with David Rees. I read that extended article in the Financial Times. It was clearly briefed by Whitehall sources, and it very directly implied that we were just about to get an announcement from the UK Government of dedicated support for the steel industry, an industry that this country will need when coronavirus is over, and the scale of support that is needed for that industry has to come from the UK Government. We continue to play our part with Tata directly in supporting skills and apprenticeships and with some localised environmental investment to assist the company, but the scale of support that the industry needs in a global crisis has to come from the UK Government. Having indicated that that help was just on its way, it's very disappointing that it hasn't materialised now for several days. The Chancellor is to make his announcement on support for the economy next week. We will be pressing the UK Government all the way through to make sure that support for the steel industry—a strategically important industry for the whole of the United Kingdom—is at the forefront of his thoughts in putting that package together.