1. What criteria will the Welsh Government be using to decide when outdoor visitor attractions will be able to reopen? OQ56204

I thank Suzy Davies for that question. The criteria for reopening outdoor visitors attractions are set out in the Welsh Government's 'Coronavirus Control Plan—Alert Levels in Wales'. We are currently at alert level 4, and outdoor attractions are listed as reopening at alert level 2. 

Thank you for that answer. Obviously, the sector understands the need to reopen safely, but this is the time of the year when they have to make significant spending decisions, and to that end they're seeking as much information as possible to help them know how long they have to plan to stay closed as opposed to open. I think the prospect of a safe May election has given them some hope that May might be a possibility. Their immediate concerns, apart from workforce planning, though, are the arrival of rates bills and the possibility of travel being permitted elsewhere in the UK but not in Wales, and, of course, that will affect people's holiday decisions. So, what prospect is there of Welsh Government introducing a further business rates holiday for the sector pending reopening, and how important do you think, for the reason I've given—nothing to do with devolution—that some attempt must be made to align the reopening dates across the UK, notwithstanding the different tiers or alert levels, certainly between England and Wales?

Llywydd, I thank Suzy Davies for those further questions, and in case I don't have a further opportunity to say it, shall I say to her she will be much missed in this Chamber? And her question today is typically constructive in wishing to find answers for a sector that has had a torrid time during coronavirus. If the Welsh Government receives money in the Chancellor's statement in March that funds us to offer a further business rate relief period in the next financial year, then we will definitely look to do that. But our ability to do it, the scale of funding that is required, means that can only be done if that is a genuine, across UK effort. 

As far as co-ordinating dates for reopening are concerned, I hear what the Member has said. I'm pleased to say that we now have regular meetings with the UK Government every Wednesday—and a number of days in between most weeks now—where we are able to talk about common approaches to things that happen in all parts of the United Kingdom. We will all, nonetheless, be calibrating the decisions that we make in the circumstances that we face. As Suzy Davies will know, the number of people falling ill with coronavirus per 100,000 of the population in Wales is falling at the moment every day. It's about half the level that is to be seen across the border in England. I wouldn't want to deny Welsh businesses or outdoor attractions the chance of opening earlier if our circumstances allowed that to happen, but the situation, Llywydd, as Members will know, is highly uncertain. Everyone here will have seen the news overnight about the South African variant and developments in England. At the moment, in Wales, we are progressing in a positive direction. All of us are vulnerable to that changing, and that would inevitably have an impact on our ability to reopen parts of the economy.

First Minister, whilst nobody would advocate opening up attractions before it is safe to do so, we also have to accept that the industry has taken massive precautions to make their businesses as secure as they can with regard to COVID. And what the industry really needs is a clear pathway to opening back up. So, First Minister, can you publish guidelines for the reopening of the visitor economy, where it can be contingent perhaps on case rates continuing to fall? We do need a timeline so that the industry can prepare. Diolch.

Llywydd, I thank Caroline Jones, and I understand the points that she makes, of course. The pathway to reopening is the pathway set out in the coronavirus control plan, and that does include a series of indicators, including positivity rates and prevalence rates in the community, that tell us when it would be safe to allow outdoor visitor attractions to reopen again. I accept everything that the Member said about the efforts the industry itself has made to put itself in the position where people will be confident to visit those attractions again. I honestly don't think there is anything more certain that I could offer that industry, or any other, other than to point to the plan that we set out, with its alert levels and with the criteria that will allow us to move between them, always pointing to the inherent uncertainty of the circumstances in which we continue to live.