Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 3 November 2021.
Can I thank Tom Giffard for that comment? As the Member knows, we are still facing a very challenging situation around COVID. We are still seeing significant levels of infections, and we know that a number of premises, events, hospitality organisations and venues are very high-risk venues, because primarily they tend to be indoors. Now, the First Minister did signal at the last COVID review that if the situation does not improve—and that would be taken in the round; it is not just about the number of cases, but the impact on the NHS and on communities as a whole—he would have to consider whether we extended the COVID pass into other areas. He already announced that the COVID pass will be extended to theatres, cinemas and concert halls.
To deal specifically with the point about hospitality, I think it's important to understand that what the extension of any COVID pass into those areas is aimed at doing is ensuring that those venues can remain open. He will remember, last year, we faced a very, very difficult winter, and at very short notice, all hospitality—pubs, restaurants and hospitality venues—was closed down for a considerable number of weeks, and that's what we want to avoid this year. So, the extension of COVID passes needs to be seen in that context, and needs to be seen as something that will aid keeping those venues open rather than being seen as a restriction to the operation of those venues.
The other thing I would say in terms of ongoing support is I continue to have regular discussions with my colleague the Minister for Economy, Vaughan Gething, about what relevant support can be put in place if this situation continues, and restrictions continue, and if the impact on those businesses continues indefinitely, or certainly for the foreseeable future. So, those are discussions that are ongoing, and we keep that under constant review.