Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 9 March 2021.
Llywydd, I thank Alun Davies for that. He's absolutely right, of course, as the Welsh Governance Centre report demonstrated only a few weeks ago, that, had we simply followed the schemes that are in place across our border, Welsh businesses would be millions and millions of pounds worse off than they are by being located in Wales, because of the help that we have been able to mobilise for them. And I know the Welsh Conservative Party doesn't like to acknowledge that; it does indeed, as Alun Davies said, have only one prescription for Wales, and that is that we should copy exactly what is done by people across the border—£300 million less would have been available to businesses in Wales. Almost all the help that the Welsh Government provides, of course, goes to small and medium-sized enterprises. We took a very conscious decision not to extend rate relief to businesses with a rateable value of over £500,000, and that released tens and tens of millions of pounds that we have put into the hands of small businesses here in Wales. I know that Alun Davies welcomed the extra £30 million that we announced for the sector-specific fund in leisure, tourism and hospitality only a couple of weeks ago. And the £200 million that we have in reserve, which we will use next year, will be targeted at those businesses that exist in every high street here in Wales. And they would, absolutely, as my colleague Alun Davies says, much rather be trading and they'd much rather be earning a living than waiting for the next cheque from the Welsh Government. But while the current pandemic persists, we will make sure that, where they cannot trade, the Welsh Government will step in to assist them.