6. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government financial support for businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic? OQ55591

I thank the Member for that, Llywydd. Our £1.7 billion business support package is the most generous offer of help anywhere in the United Kingdom. As I've said a number of times this afternoon, the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales will provide further details of phase 3 of the economic resilience fund in an oral statement later this afternoon.

Thank you, First Minister. I welcome what you've done already and look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say this afternoon. But I've been contacted by the owner of a small haulage firm working in the construction sector who needed financial support as building sites and quarries were closing due to the pandemic. He applied for the first phase of funding from the economic resilience fund shortly after it became available, only to find it'd been withdrawn because of the demand. He then contacted Business Wales, who advised him to seek funding through the self-employed scheme, which he did and received a small payment. When he applied for more funding from the ERF, he was refused because he had claimed from HMRC. My constituent said if he'd known this advice would make him ineligible for further ERF funding, he wouldn't have applied. First Minister, are you aware of more cases like this, and do you agree with me that it's simply not right that this firm is now under threat due to advice received from Business Wales?

Llywydd, I'm not, I'm afraid, familiar with the details of the specific firm to which the Member refers, but I'm very willing to pursue the points that she has made. If she would like to provide me with details of the firm and the concerns that lie behind the question that she's raised on their behalf this afternoon, I will certainly make sure that they are pursued. And I thank the Member for what she said in opening about welcoming the help that we are able to provide to businesses in Wales more generally.