7. What discussions has the Welsh Government had with Chester Football Club and Flintshire County Council following the match at the Deva Stadium on 28 December 2021? OQ57394

A series of discussions have taken place, primarily involving Chester Football Club and the enforcement authorities of Flintshire County Council and North Wales Police. A constructive dialogue is focused on ensuring that the law is upheld here in Wales, and that the interests of the club are safeguarded.

Thank you for that response. Certainly, we need a pragmatic resolution to this situation. I'm sure you too would appreciate the need for consistency, because supporters have been in touch with me asking why they have to follow the rules if another club can ignore them. And if the Government and the relevant authorities aren't consistent in the way they enforce these rules, then it's only a matter of time before other clubs try to bend the rules and things will get very messy very quickly. 

I have no animosity towards Chester Football Club; it is a club owned by the supporters, and the club has supporters in my own region. I want them to be able to play in front of a crowd, just as I want other clubs in Wales to be able to do that. I heard your earlier response when you refused to consider lifting the restrictions on supporters attending sports events in the open air, but will you at least consider raising the maximum number of supporters so that grass-roots sports can operate, and in the case of larger clubs, for some percentage, perhaps a third or half the capacity of the stadium, as long as social distancing and mask wearing is in place?

I heard Llyr Huws Gruffydd's comments on the situation with Chester Football Club, and I agree with what he said. It is important that we find a pragmatic solution that is clear on the law in Wales—and the law is the same for all clubs in Wales—but also recognising the fact that there are important issues for Chester Football Club and trying to help them with those issues too. 

In terms of the broader point, every week we take advice from the chief medical officer, and from others, and when they tell us as a Government that it is safe to lift restrictions, then of course we’re eager to do that. We are not in that situation yet. I do hope, over coming weeks, that that will change, and that the omicron wave will reduce. And when that happens, of course, we're eager to review the number of people who can meet in the open air and do things such as supporting those clubs with things that are so important to them. But the time to do that in Wales is when the medical advice, and the other advice that we receive, tells us that it is safe for us to do it.

Finally, question 8, Paul Davies.