Supermarkets and COVID-19

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:39 pm on 14 October 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 1:39, 14 October 2020

Thank you. Around the first point of your question, I think it's excellent that Torfaen County Borough Council have been undertaking the spot checks. I think we've asked a huge amount of our environmental health officers right across Wales during the pandemic, and I think it's fair to say local authorities have really stepped up to the plate in relation to that.

In my regular meetings with the supermarkets, I certainly always re-emphasise the need for them to take responsibility for the shoppers, and they're very happy to do that. As I said in a previous answer, the social distancing is still there now, face masks are obviously mandatory, and I think we all have to accept there's a shared responsibility for us all to act and modify our behaviour and responsibility to shopping in supermarkets.

I've also unfortunately had quite a bit of correspondence about an increase in the abuse that shopkeepers and shop assistants have been receiving as well, which, obviously, we don't want to see. I've been in correspondence with the police around this issue also.