Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. The Welsh Government recognises the challenges facing businesses during the pandemic, and an extraordinary effort has gone into providing the most generous business support package anywhere in the UK. Our £1.7 billion package includes over £350 million of non-domestic rates relief for businesses in the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors, and this scheme reduces the rates bills for these businesses to zero for this financial year. This is in addition to our existing rates relief schemes, which are providing over £230 million of support this year. As a result of our schemes, over 70,000 businesses and other organisations in Wales are paying no rates this year. We've also provided over £800 million of funding for grants related to rateable values to support small and medium-sized businesses across Wales, including businesses in the retail sector. We've worked with local authorities to ensure that this funding has reached businesses as quickly as possible, and I want to thank all local authorities across Wales for the agile and efficient way in which they've approached this challenge to support businesses across our communities. So far, they've issued over 60,000 grants to eligible businesses. Unlike in England, businesses not eligible for these schemes have been able to apply for financial support via our £0.5 billion economic resilience fund, which has been designed to address the gaps in the UK left in the UK Government's offer.

I know that not every business has qualified for financial support, and our package has been designed to be affordable within the available funding in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic. Despite these pressures, the Office for National Statistics figures show that 34 per cent of all businesses in Wales have received Government support in Wales, compared with 14 per cent in England. Our ability to go beyond the support offered by the UK Government was in part funded by our decision to cap the support available through our new rates relief measures, and that decision was not taken lightly. It enabled over £100 million to be directed towards our economic resilience fund, which supports businesses of all sizes. To illustrate the impact that this has, this is the sum needed to fund grants of £50,000 for over 2,000 Welsh SMEs, and this fund has supported thousands of small businesses, which make up a greater share of the Welsh economy, with many serving as the backbone of our communities.

Turning to the challenges facing Debenhams, I recognise the importance of Debenhams stores to our towns and cities across Wales, and I have met with the chair of Debenhams to learn more about the company's position. It's important to recognise that the majority of Debenhams stores in Wales are receiving rate relief and grant support, which amounts to £1.3 million this year. However, Debenhams's problems are well documented, and, as the company faces its third insolvency process in 12 months, I just don't think it's credible to claim that the sustainability of the business could be guaranteed by further rates relief from the Welsh Government. Debenhams has already announced the closure of some of its stores across UK, and those include a number of premises that were eligible for rate relief. And given this challenging backdrop, I referred the company to the economic resilience fund, which has supported strategically important businesses in Wales with a rateable value over £500,000.

It's only right that any further support is linked to clear commitments on jobs and business plans, because they're the factors that determine whether our support actually delivers for our communities, our town centres and our workers in Wales. With our finite resources, I am confident that a fair balance was struck by limiting rate relief for those larger premises in order to support smaller businesses with nowhere else to turn. We must also recognise that non-domestic rates exist to help fund the local services that we all rely on. Every penny of revenue collected is used to fund local services, and these services are vital in ordinary times, but, in the current circumstances, local authorities are also providing direct and crucial support in dealing with the impact of the virus. 

So, to conclude, while working at a pace and scale that is entirely unprecedented, the Welsh Government has provided support to Debenhams and engaged positively with the company, whilst seeking to protect jobs and ensure the sound use of public money. Diolch yn fawr.