Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Welsh Language – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 2 December 2020.
Thank you. Minister, following on from a question to the health Minister just now, I was very encouraged to hear that you're going out and talking to small businesses in your capacity. I want to talk to you about mental health and well-being, particularly of our small-business owners at the moment, who have been put through so much during this pandemic, creating heightened anxiety and mental health worries. They've really stepped up to the plate and delivered in terms of adapting their businesses and making them coronavirus safe, yet we are now seeing them battered again by these latest regulations coming into effect this Friday. Judging from e-mails and conversations I've had with small-business owners, pubs, bars and restaurants across south-east Wales in my region, there is great anxiety and depression, and that's very clear and very apparent in those e-mails and the conversations I've had, which majorly concerns me and, I'm sure, you. Research is also suggesting that these people aren't reaching out for help. So, what action is this Government taking, and you, Minister, to reach out to these business owners during these particularly tough time to ensure that they get all the mental health support that they need? Thank you.