Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:21 pm on 26 May 2021.
I recognise the points that the Member makes about the challenges that businesses face when they are resuming trading, whether that is the restocking issue, whether it is the weather, but the Welsh Government has provided help to businesses at every step of the way. I've heard allegations earlier that there was no help for businesses during the month of April, for example. At the end of March and at the start of April, we paid out more than £147 million to businesses in non-domestic rate grants. In April and the start of May, a further sum of over £24 million reached businesses through the economic resilience fund, and now there is another £66 million available to help those businesses during the rest of this month and through next month as well. I wanted to do what Mr Fletcher has suggested; I wanted to reach those businesses where the trading conditions are the most challenging and where the inevitable restrictions that are still there in order to deal with coronavirus place restrictions on what they are able to do. That's why we will have the discussions with other parties, but with businesses and business organisations themselves, to make sure that the remainder of the £200 million that we've already set aside can be targeted in that way so that those who are most affected and continue to be affected by trading conditions are able to get the maximum help we are able to offer.