Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 6 October 2020.
First Minister, businesses in Blaenau Gwent and other counties suffering from the effects of local lockdowns are able to claim support from you, from this Government's economic resilience fund, and that is very welcome. However, local lockdowns are having a serious and damaging effect on businesses in Monmouthshire due to a lack of people from surrounding areas who would normally, and obviously now cannot, travel there to shop, work and eat out. One small trader I visited yesterday told me they've gone from 200 customers a day to under 20. Tourism businesses are already reporting cancellations. Unless these businesses receive support, they're unlikely to survive, so can I support Monmouthshire County Council's plea to you and ask you, First Minister, to please extend the third phase of your £60 million economic resilience fund to traders in areas like Monmouthshire that are adversely affected from being surrounded by local lockdowns?