Inward Investment in the North Wales Region

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy and Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 1:42 pm on 7 October 2020.

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Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 1:42, 7 October 2020

Diolch, Llywydd. I was just saying about the IMT that met last week: a range of stakeholders—local authority leaders, the police, health chiefs—all in agreement that action had to be taken. The reason being that the later you act, the longer restrictions are often in place. Just look at what's happening in Paris right now, just look at what's happening elsewhere, when you fail to intervene early, and look at what's happening in many parts of Wales where we did take action early—the figures are dropping.

Now, I have another number of points I'd just briefly like to make. The Member says that the local lockdown fund amounts to pennies. Well, maybe she could explain what she thinks about the English support, because that is far less generous than what we are offering in Wales. In England, you will only be able to get support if you close your business down; that's not the case in Wales. I'd also invite the Member to look at how many businesses in her own constituency have benefited from the most comprehensive and generous package of support anywhere in the United Kingdom. If we just take Conwy, as a county area, we know that a total of 461 microbusinesses and small and medium-sized enterprises secured funding through the economic resilience fund. That wouldn't have been available to those 461 businesses if they'd been established in England. And, in addition, 83 start-up grants were awarded for start-ups in Conwy. Again, funding that wouldn't have been available to them if they were in England. And, thirdly, in Aberconwy, in the Member's own constituency, the Development Bank of Wales's COVID-19 loans scheme has provided more than £3 million to 68 businesses. Again, support that wouldn't have been available if they had been in England.

We are doing all we can—far more than the UK Government is doing exclusively in England—to provide those bridges for businesses and working people to get through to the point where we have a vaccine or where we adequately suppress the virus numbers.