3. How is the Welsh Government supporting self-catering businesses in North Wales during the pandemic? OQ56166

Llywydd, on Friday 22 January, the package of support to businesses affected by level 4 restrictions was further enhanced by an additional £200 million, taking its total to £650 million. Self-catering businesses will be eligible for elements of this support, provided they meet the necessary criteria. 

Thank you. Well, a single north Wales council continues to insist that legitimate self-catering businesses that do not meet all three Welsh Government criteria for the payment of business and lockdown non-domestic rate grants to holiday letting businesses are ineligible, leaving several struggling, telling me that their position is based on a telephone conversation with a Welsh Government official, although they confirm that the council does not have a formal written record of that conversation and nor was there any subsequent correspondence to confirm the outcome. However, I've received confirmation from three Welsh Government Ministers and all five other north Wales county councils that local authorities have discretion to pay out these grants to self-catering businesses unable to meet the three eligibility criteria, but able to prove they're a legitimate business. For example, Denbighshire confirmed they paid the grants out in these cases, and the officers from Welsh Government confirmed that their viewpoint was valid and they were correct in awarding the grants to these businesses. Will you therefore place on record that local authorities have discretion to pay out these grants to self-catering businesses that are unable to meet the three eligibility criteria, but able to prove they're a legitimate business to their council, and confirm whether Welsh Government funding is available for retrospective payments accordingly?

Well, Llywydd, I think the Member has accurately set out the Welsh Government's position: we have provided discretion to local authorities to apply the criteria we set out in the specific circumstances that they face. Discretion will mean that some local authorities go about that in ways that others do not. That is in the nature of discretion. The Member has accurately set out the Welsh Government's position on that matter.