Part of 4. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his European Transition Minister responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 12:21 pm on 15 July 2020.
I won't repeat what we've already heard in the Chamber today from the First Minister and the Minister for the economy talking about the interventions that we have proposed and offered to date in the context of a swift response to COVID. But the question that the Member poses is also relevant to the long term, as it highlights. I will refer him to the statement from the Deputy Minister Hannah Blythyn, talking about further investments in towns that are in parts of his region, and the Valleys taskforce in south Wales, which is looking at reprofiling some of the investments there to be able to support towns in that part of Wales too.
Work is ongoing, and has been ongoing, to ensure that we have specific responses to the challenges in town centres across Wales—that is, pressure on the retail sector, shops, and small businesses—and there have been a number of interventions focusing on that, in addition to providing advice on how towns can look at their public areas to support businesses to be able to operate in the post-COVID period. That advice has already been announced.