Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:45 pm on 7 December 2021.
Well, I thank Jack Sargeant for that, Llywydd. I too was out on Saturday, marking Small Business Saturday and meeting with businesses who do so much to keep our high streets vibrant and alive. The Royal Society of Arts, Llywydd, which first brought the idea of a community bank to the Welsh Government, had very dramatic figures of the collapse in lending to very small enterprises within a mile radius of a commercial bank when it ceases to be available in that locality. Within a year, lending to that sector really, really goes down, which is why, as well as being a very important development for individual people who otherwise are financially excluded, having a community bank on the high street will also be very good for those local businesses as well—not looking for large amounts of money, but looking to make that next small investment that puts that business on the path to expansion and to further prosperity. The Minister for Economy will make a statement here on the floor of the Senedd next week on the creation of the community bank for Wales, and I think it will demonstrate the ways in which we are able, as Jack Sargeant said, to go on supporting that community-focused agenda.