Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 8 December 2020.
The First Minister and his colleagues have had to make extremely difficult decisions during the pandemic, and all of us realise how serious the situation is now in Caerphilly and across the south-east. I've just listened to the exchange between you and Laura Anne Jones, First Minister. I think there is a disconnect between the severity of the situation and some public attitudes towards this, and I wonder that this might have been because of some breakdowns in communication. I feel that the restrictions that have just been talked about with the hospitality sector, which came in last Friday, could have been met with less resistance if there'd been a longer lead-in time, which would have allowed businesses time to plan in terms of both staffing and stock, because failure to allow that time led to businesses having to close at short notice and pour beer down the drain. I'm aware of one business, which is in Caerphilly county, that sent a message to Members saying that they'd taken the difficult decision to suspend some services until mid January because they had no confidence in the Government's ability to commit to a reliable schedule of releasing restraints by the promised deadline. So, could I ask, First Minister, what assurance could you provide to the hospitality sector that you'll give them as much time as possible to prepare in future, both in terms of lifting and imposing restrictions?