4. Will the Minister make a statement on the visitor economy in north Wales? OQ55647

Absolutely. The visitor economy is hugely important to the Welsh economy, particularly in north Wales. We have been overwhelmed by the spirit and perseverance of the sector during the crisis. We have recognised this not just by giving the tourism industry support through the first two phases of the economic resilience fund and through the non-domestic rates related grants, but also earmarking specifically £20 million from the latest phase of the economic resilience fund for those important sectors.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. You'll be aware because of your own constituency interests that Conwy and Denbighshire have a very vibrant tourism economy. They lost out, many of the tourism operators and the jobs that depend on those businesses, on the Easter season because of the lockdown earlier this year. The summer season started later than in any other part of the United Kingdom because of the Welsh Government continuing to cause those businesses to remain closed, and, of course, they now face the prospect, because of the local coronavirus restrictions, of not being able to receive any people travelling into Conwy and Denbighshire because of the travel restrictions that have been put in place.

I've had a number of businesses that have been in touch with me in recent days since the announcement last week. They are very, very concerned about the viability of their businesses. They say that livelihoods will almost certainly be lost as a result of those restrictions, and they do not feel that sufficient evidence has been published to demonstrate that they are proportionate. What work are you doing, as the economy Minister and the Minister for north Wales, to ensure that your Cabinet colleagues produce all of the information necessary so that tourism business owners and those who are employed by them can properly test whether these measures are actually proportionate?

Can I thank the Member for his question and assure the Member that the measures are proportionate? As I've already said, they're designed to ensure that the period in which restrictions apply is minimised, taking action early, limiting the amount of time that we have to apply those restrictions. On Monday, I met with members of the north Wales business council, including key representatives of the tourism and hospitality sectors, and outlined the reasons why restrictions are necessary in parts of north Wales.

I must highlight, once again—and I've been at pains to do this—that when the IMT met last week, it did so in partnership and agreed that the restrictions had to be introduced. That is a partnership of local government leaders, health experts and the police. We are, I can assure the Member, extremely concerned about the viability of businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector, which is so important to north Wales, and that is why we have delivered the most generous and comprehensive package of support for businesses in those sectors anywhere in the United Kingdom. As a result of that support, more than 1,200 micro and SMEs in the tourism and hospitality sectors, in north Wales alone, have been awarded funding through the economic resilience fund, and that's in addition to the many businesses that have secured funding through the development bank.

It's worth just highlighting today as well, if I may say so, Llywydd, that the development bank has been extraordinary in administering its support for businesses in Wales. I can tell Members today that it has administered 1,335 COVID-related business loans; that compares to every single high-street bank—every single high-street bank—having administered, on behalf of the UK Government, just 1,391. So, our development bank in Wales has administered and provided support to almost as many businesses as every single high-street bank, through the coronavirus business interruption loan scheme programme. That's a phenomenal achievement. We should be very proud of the Development Bank of Wales.