3. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:00 pm on 29 June 2021.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:00, 29 June 2021

Thank you, Jenny, for those two points. In relation to your first point around the ability to get the certification online, I think, as you say, it's very welcome. And as you know, the Minister for health does a weekly update in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, so I will certainly ask her to consider updating Members in her next weekly update.

In relation to your question around English as a second language and language schools, it's been an incredibly difficult and uncertain time, as you say, for businesses and obviously the English language teaching industry as a whole. We do support businesses who are—. Obviously, a business like that would be eligible to access business rate relief, for instance, and any associated grants to which you refer, and, of course, we've got the economic resilience fund, which is unique to Wales. Any businesses with a turnover of less than £85,000 who meet the eligibility for the latest round of ERF—and it's a good opportunity to say this today—it's the closing date for applications tomorrow, so it could be that they could be encouraged to apply by tomorrow and, alternatively, we do have funds from the Development Bank of Wales that they can access also. I should also point to the EU transition portal and the Business Wales portal for advice as well.