Support for Businesses

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:59 am on 1 July 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 11:59, 1 July 2020

Well, Llywydd, I thank Hefin David for what he said about the new £5 million grant supporting start-up businesses. We anticipate it will support up to 2,000 businesses in Wales, and it is an example of filling a gap in the schemes that the UK Government has devised. I always take this opportunity to recognise the help that the UK Government has provided, and to say that it is inevitable, in very large, very rapidly constructed schemes, that there will be some blunt edges and gaps that will emerge, and our £500 million economic resilience fund has always been aimed at finding the gaps in the schemes that the UK Government has put in place and then to try to fill them here in Wales. We aren't able to fill every gap; it's just not possible within the scope of what we have. But, we continue to review the economic resilience fund to see whether we can do more through it. Where there are examples where the structure of the help that is available creates gaps that firms fall through, then we're always open to hearing about that and to see if there are further ways in which we can assist.