7. Welsh Conservatives Debate: Impact of local coronavirus restrictions on employers

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:57 pm on 14 October 2020.

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Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 5:57, 14 October 2020

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Thank you, everyone who has taken part in the debate today. Shall we just begin by welcoming the assistance provided by both our Governments? Just to make it clear that the Welsh Conservatives here do appreciate some of the things that the Welsh Government has done here, but we have some questions to ask you.

I just want to start with a point that Russell George made about more than £4 billion being brought to the Welsh Government for COVID response on top of the additional UK support through the tax and benefit system that Darren Millar referred to in his contribution. I think it would be a shame, wouldn't it, if we didn't acknowledge what the UK Chancellor has managed to do in what has been called 'unprecedented times' a number of times today, and the response that came from what he was able to do as a result of being caught completely unawares by something that has affected countries across the world.

When you say, Minister, in the motion that you're spending extra above the £4 billion consequential, I'm wondering quite how straight you're being with us there because, of course, it's not extra, is it, really? This is money taken from existing Welsh Government budgets in order to plonk into the pot being run by the star chamber, resulting in some of your departments having to beg to have it back. And while we would, of course, welcome the ERF, I think you'd have to acknowledge as well that you wouldn't be able to have an ERF to the extent that you do were it not for the money that was coming in, at least in part, from UK Government. 

As we heard earlier, this supplementary budget doesn't really reflect the use of the consequentials that we are talking about. Certainly, there was £2.2 billion coming from UK Government at the time the supplementary budget was done, and that was just—I think it was a £1.8 billion budget. Really, as opaque as ever when we're talking about budget scrutiny. And that's why I'm disappointed in the response from the finance Minister to the debate before this one, calling for legislation in order to introduce budgets.

But I think my main objection to your amendment is point 8. It's your Government that has chosen to lock down what you call local areas; it's your Government that has closed the market for our COVID-compliant tourism and hospitality sectors in much of Wales—and if Plaid had their way, they'd close it down altogether. This debate is about your disproportionate response to a threat that we all want to control, so you pay for it. Or better still, listen to what Wales is telling you and make it proportionate, which, of course, the law requires. Earlier today, the leader of my group was referred to as making amateur interpretations of a document that was made available earlier. Well, I think if you listened to Janet Finch-Saunders today and if you listened to Mark Isherwood today, you will have heard evidence of the damage that your decision is doing to our industries.