Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 13 October 2021.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:46, 13 October 2021

Well, the Minister for Climate Change has written to the UK Government, to urge them to take all possible action to protect people and businesses at this point. And I know that she received a briefing from Ofgem on 21 September, where she sought assurances on the part of consumers. In terms of businesses, clearly, we are concerned about the impact of the increase of energy costs, as we are in terms of the impact on public services as well. Ultimately, the UK Government does need to step in to this place, because this is the kind of area where it does need the fire power that the UK Government has, which we don't have. Beyond that, I'm having further discussions about support for businesses for the remainder of the financial year, through the additional funding that we have in respect of COVID, which is yet to be allocated, although I don't want to suggest that that's necessarily tied to energy, but I just want to reassure that additional support for business is being discussed at the moment.