£640m reaches businesses in £2.4bn Welsh Government Covid-19 response

£640m reaches businesses in £2.4bn Welsh Government Covid-19 response

The Finance Minister Rebecca Evans will set out the extraordinary steps the Welsh Government has taken to dedicate more than £2.4bn to the coronavirus crisis when the supplementary budget is published later today.

 

This significant financial effort has not only provided more than £750m to fund our NHS and public service response, supporting the supply of PPE, investment in testing and tracing and NHS recruitment, but also helped to deliver the most generous business support package in the UK.

The latest figures out today show that more than 52,000 grants, totalling £640m have been paid to businesses in Wales, who are also benefitting from rates relief through the £1.4bn package announced in March.

 

The Finance Minister has also called on the UK Government to ease the ‘rigid financial rules’ that limit the Welsh Government’s ability to direct more resources to its COVID response.

Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said:

“This unprecedented financial response has maximised the immediate support we could offer to Welsh public services, businesses and the most vulnerable in this crisis.

 

“It is only right that we have been guided by a sense of what is fair when public finances are facing such enormous pressure. That is why we have gone beyond the funding we have received from the UK government to deliver targeted support, from funding free school meals throughout the holidays to delivering the most generous business support package in the UK.

 

“There are still many challenges ahead and our ability to respond is limited by the rigid financial rules imposed on us by the UK Government. Easing the rules on the way we manage our budget and the amount we can borrow will free up much-needed resources for the front lines in this crisis.

“I will continue to urge the UK Treasury to fix this problem and as we look ahead the Welsh Government will set out the case against any return to reckless austerity.”

 

Notes to editors

The Welsh Government’s Supplementary Budget will be published at 3pm.

Covid-19 non-domestic rates (NDR) grants distributed by local authorities in Wales as of 26.05.2020.

 

Number of payments madeValue of payments made (£)
Isle of Anglesey1,517£19,325,000
Gwynedd2,881£35,365,000
Conwy2,676£33,180,000
Denbighshire1,992£23,625,000
Flintshire2,314£27,865,000
Wrexham1,657£19,730,000
Powys3,897£46,245,000
Ceredigion1,867£23,065,000
Pembrokeshire3,260£39,320,000
Carmarthenshire3,403£39,349,000
Swansea3,445£43,390,000
Neath Port Talbot2,102£24,245,000
Bridgend2,171£27,095,000
The Vale of Glamorgan1,784£22,580,000
Cardiff4,402£60,025,000
Rhondda Cynon Taf3,392£39,635,000
Merthyr Tydfil945£11,675,000
Caerphilly2,532£29,610,000
Blaenau Gwent1,135£12,685,000
Torfaen1,285£15,070,000
Monmouthshire1,535£20,180,000
Newport2,141£26,595,000
Wales52,333£639,854,000

Source: Welsh Local Government Association.