Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 10 March 2021.
Thank you, Deputy Minister. Tourism, of course, as you will know, is usually worth around £900 million to the economy of Conwy county annually. That resource has been almost completely wiped out, and Conwy county has seen one of the highest furlough take-up rates in Wales. On the ground, the economic situation is even worse, with hospitality businesses now heavily in debt, and extremely concerned as to the amount of time it will take to make bank repayments. My point is that even when Conwy county opens up its tourism sector to the UK and the world again, those hospitality businesses, which are essential to the local economy, could require years of financial incentives and rate relief. Bearing in mind the economic reality in Conwy county, and the knock-on effect this will have on local authority revenue, could you explain why you've only given the Conservative-led county local authority a 3.6 per cent settlement increase, instead of other examples of 5.6 per cent, such as the Labour-led Newport authority? Diolch.