(Title Image: via Senedd TV)
- Conservatives call for a business rates holiday for all businesses, hyperlocal lockdowns and support for landlords who can’t let commercial premises.
- Conservatives and the Welsh Government continue to argue over a (seemingly non-existent) requirement for workplace unionisation to receive support funding.
- Welsh Government say their support package has saved at least 100,000 jobs.
The Motion
The Senedd:
- Welcomes the £4 billion of extra funding made available to the Welsh Government by the UK Government to address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Recognises the significant adverse impact of local coronavirus restrictions on businesses and other employers.
- Notes the need to ensure that coronavirus restrictions that impact upon employers are proportionate and calls upon the Welsh Government to:
- remove the expectation for employers to have a unionised workplace to access Welsh Government funding;
- extend business rate relief to businesses with a rateable value in excess of £500,000 and to landlords who are unable to let vacant commercial properties;
- waive the 10% investment requirement to access grants under Phase 3 of the economic resilience fund;
- publish, in the public domain, data on the number of positive Covid-19 tests on a local authority ward basis.
Welsh Government “not transparent” in how they’re spending pandemic support funds
Shadow Economy Minister, Russell George MS (Con, Montgomery), accused the Welsh Government of lacking transparency in how they’re using the £4billion+ support package for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Carefully targeted community-based lockdowns would avoid the need for county-wide lockdowns and minimise the impact on businesses. He outlined what the Conservatives would do if they were in power (included in the motion above) and called on the Welsh Government to provide a business rates holiday for all business as has happened in England.
Helen Mary Jones MS (Plaid, Mid & West Wales) didn’t disagree with all of the Tory proposals – particularly publishing ward-level virus data. While the UK Government’s economic support programme was good it left gaping gaps and the Welsh Government would need additional fiscal powers to address those gaps. There was no “magic money tree” providing this extra funding, it was borrowed.
Darren Millar MS (Con, Clwyd West) said the UK Government programme demonstrated the importance of the Union, while Caroline Jones MS (Ind, South Wales West) accepted that while we can’t rely on herd immunity and need to strictly enforce public health measures, the economic impact was such that we need to come to terms with living with the virus.
Welsh Government provides “most comprehensive support package anywhere in the UK”
Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South), said the government’s comprehensive support package has helped more than 13,000 businesses and protected 100,000 jobs which would otherwise have been lost.
Russell George has been questioning unionisation requirements in economic support contracts several times in recent weeks. The letter to businesses in question (pdf) clearly states that unions should be recognised where employees request it – this doesn’t mean unionisation is a strict requirement to receive funding.
“Every business receiving support from our economic resilience fund has signed up to the principles of the economic contract. That reflects our commitment to public investment with social purpose…. to promote fair work, which, I’m afraid, it seems that the Conservatives today so clearly oppose; as well as promoting better mental health, promoting skills, and promoting clean, green growth. We make no apology for this….”
– Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates
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