3. Statement by the First Minister: Cabinet Appointments

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 19 May 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:20, 19 May 2021

Well, Llywydd, it's a pleasure to welcome Mr Rowlands to the Chamber; I look forward to the contributions that he will make, particularly given his previous experience as a leader of a local authority in Wales. I know that he will have some important things that he will be able to contribute to the way in which we think about that relationship and make it work for people in Wales in the future. He was, of course, responsible for a number of tourism-related activities when leader of Conwy County Borough Council.

Can I just gently urge Members, Llywydd, not to mistake the surface for the substance? The label is not as important as what is in the jar, and that is as true of tourism here as it was for arts and sports, raised earlier. The most important thing that we can do for the sector is to create conditions around coronavirus that mean that it can be open and stay open. And as he will know, as from Monday of this week, all parts of tourism are now able to be reopened, alongside indoor hospitality. And the biggest thing we can do for the sector is collectively to make sure that the conditions are sustained in Wales where that can continue to be the case. But I absolutely recognise, as does the whole Government, that while there are parts of tourism and hospitality that are now able to reopen, they're not able to trade in the way that they would have done prior to the pandemic. The £66 million that I was able to announce—the first decision I took following my reappointment as First Minister—is a down payment on the £200 million that we have set aside to go on supporting businesses. I know that the sector itself is keen that we now work with them to develop a more targeted way of making sure that that money goes primarily to those businesses who are not back up and trading at full capacity.

So, it was inevitable, back in March of last year or January of this year, with so many businesses closed, that a rather blunt instrument approach was needed to get money out from the Welsh Government and into the hands of many businesses. We're in a different position today, and want to be in a different position—more strongly—in the future, and that will mean making sure that more of the help we're able to offer goes to those businesses who are still in recovery, and discussions with the tourism sector and others will be the way in which we will be able to design our help in a way that gets to where it is most needed.