8. What consideration did the Minister give to supporting small and medium-sized businesses when determining the Welsh Government's budget for 2022-23? OQ58259

The final budget published in March provides £1.8 billion in 2022-23 to support the economy portfolio. This budget includes £35 million to specifically support small and medium-sized businesses. Other support includes £116 million for rates relief and £103 million for Transforming Towns.

Thank you, Minister. I've recently met with a number of businesses in the Cynon valley who are seeking to invest in renewable energy sources, or more modern energy efficient machinery. Of course, this can be very expensive for small family enterprises. How is the Welsh Government supporting this type of investment so that businesses can innovate, modernise and play their part in tackling the climate emergency?

Thank you for raising that really important point, because small and medium-sized enterprises are, of course, the backbone of our economy here in Wales, but also they have a huge role to play in terms of helping us work towards our decarbonisation goals. In November of last year, a £45 million package was launched by my colleague the economy Minister to train staff and to help Welsh SMEs to grow, and included in this package was £35 million that will help small and medium-sized businesses relaunch, develop and, importantly, decarbonise to help drive the recovery following the COVID pandemic. So, that will be an important source of potential support that I would encourage businesses in the Cynon valley and elsewhere to look to.

I think, also, it's important that we start off our new small and medium-sized enterprises on the right foot. And that's why, in February 2022, Business Wales launched their net-zero carbon start-up grant, which is a pilot scheme offering financial and technical support to help budding or start-up social enterprises get their businesses ready for trading or investment, and, crucially, to embed climate-friendly practices into start-up social enterprises from the outset. This scheme is open to any up-and-coming social business or trading voluntary organisation in Wales. Again, this will be something that I know that those eligible organisations in the Cynon valley and elsewhere will be keen to explore.

I thank the Minister.