Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales – in the Senedd at 2:23 pm on 11 November 2020.
Thank you, Minister. My signal here is absolutely appalling, so I haven't been able to follow what you've been saying up until now. So, I'm going to give you some cases that I've got and you can perhaps explain what these people can do. I've been contacted by many in the six weeks that Caerphilly was in lockdown and under restrictions—by businesses whose incomes have been severely affected. One guest house owner in Caerphilly town wasn't able to access support from phase 3 of the economic resilience fund because, he told us, Business Wales's grant eligibility checker excludes self-employed sole proprietors such as himself. A hairdresser in Bargoed who's self-employed and rents her premises—the first floor of a town-centre building—didn't receive any support earlier in the year and has not been able to obtain support from the ERF phase 3 either. These are just two businesses who've contacted me sharing their frustration at the process of applying for much-needed support from the ERF phase 3, which was fully subscribed in under 48 hours after going live. What is the Welsh Government going to do to ensure that these constituents and businesses don't fall through those gaps?