We’ve designed our COVID support through the pandemic to help businesses to survive and to get ready for trading again. We’ve had emergency support, including at times when that trade has been restricted, and we’ve had to do that on a basis that is objective and fair, and to understand the costs that exist for those individual businesses. To try to design that on the basis of a broader, wider social value would be incredibly challenging to run that scheme, which we’ve had to stand up in really short order, and I think it would be complicated to the point of being undeliverable to do what—. I understand why the Member raises the issue, but I don’t think it’s a realistic way to run the support that’s available.

I should say though that in that sector, of course, those businesses should benefit from a year-long period of rate relief, unlike colleagues in England, who will have had that support reduced. It is an undeniable fact that the most generous offer of support has been delivered for businesses here in Wales. And even when I am myself engaged with businesses in the hospitality industry—I have not been able to avoid them in my own constituency—they have been clear that they understand that there is a more generous offer here in Wales than over the border in England, but times are still challenging. It makes it even more important people do the right thing in being patrons of those businesses, to behave in the right way, because we want to see them open and trading. None of us, including me, want to go to a position where we’re going to have further restrictions introduced because we can’t keep on top of the pandemic itself. I do think that when we get to genuinely exiting the pandemic, and hopefully having a much more normal Christmas trading period, these businesses will see that there are real opportunities for the future and help us to recruit more staff into, again, what should be a sector where there’s a real career, and not simply a job to be had.