Shadow Minister for North Wales, Mark Isherwood MS, has raised concerns that the tourism and hospitality industries in Wales will be disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking in this week’s Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee Debate ‘on the effects of Covid-19 on Wales's Economy, Infrastructure and Skills’, Mr Isherwood said too many tourism and hospitality businesses are “falling through the gaps” and consequently at risk of going under.
Speaking in the debate via ‘Zoom’ during Wednesday’s weekly virtual Plenary meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood said:
“The Wales Tourism Alliance, the Federation of Small Businesses Wales and CBI Wales told the Committee that the tourism and hospitality industries would be disproportionately affected. I submitted an urgent Written Question to the First Minister on 30th April, asking him to respond to ‘calls for a specific plan to support tourism businesses in Wales and for consideration to be given to models of international best practice which would help our rural and coastal tourism businesses to survive’. Other than a holding response, no reply has yet been received.
“The Wales Tourism Alliance told the committee that, although the support provided by Government at all levels had been quite generous, some businesses have fallen through the gaps, particularly wedding venues, bed and breakfasts and guest accommodation.”
Mr Isherwood, who has been battling to get small Bed and Breaskfast businesses in North Wales the support they need to survive the pandemic, referred to the fact that they have been unable to access the Welsh Government’s £10,000 Business Grant because the criteria states they must be eligible for small business rates relief, but the rules say they cannot be unless they provide accommodation for more than six persons.
He said:
“Grants are available to Bed and Breakfast operators in England and Scotland who did not qualify for any other Covid-19 grant support schemes, but operators in Wales have been denied access to equivalent Grants.
“As one told me: ‘We are already £7,400 in debt in the past 3 months and we have lost out on around £28k worth of sales in this time. This is a total emergency and grant help is needed.”
Mr Isherwood added: “The Wales Tourism Alliance told the Committee that changed Welsh Government requirements for self-catering properties to qualify for Business Grants were being used to ‘penalise bona fide businesses’.
“Although the Local Government Minister told Members that if a self-catering business can prove they are a legitimate business, the authority has the discretion to pay the grant, the Federation of Small Businesses Wales stated “some local authorities have been sending e-mails out saying, 'This isn't discretionary; we've been mandated to do this by Welsh Government’ ”.
“ I was contacted by a large number of legitimate holiday letting businesses, whose experience with this was causing real hardship.
“They wrote ‘The guidance from the Welsh Government clearly discriminates against holiday letting businesses’ and ‘There was no consultation with the industry’.
“I have since successfully represented many of these in North West Wales – although it took interventions over many weeks before Councils reviewed their applications and used their discretion to award them business grants.
“Then, 2 weeks ago, I was contacted by a legitimate holiday letting business in Flintshire which had been told their grant application had been unsuccessful because all of the Welsh Government’s additional qualifying criteria have to be met. You must despair!
“The Committee’s recommendation that ‘the Welsh Government should revisit changes made to the guidance for non-domestic business rate relief and ensure that they are neither penalising legitimate businesses nor increasing the workload on local authorities’ is therefore pivotal.”
Mr Isherwood also raised Passenger Transport industry concerns that “Wales is now the only country in the United Kingdom that has not agreed funding for transport operators to begin to ‘ramp up’ services to cover costs for additional services”.
He said: “The Committee’s recommendation that the ‘Welsh Government should inform the committee of its assessment of the current availability of buses and trains in Wales, whether this is sufficient to ensure effective socially distanced public transport services can be provided and give details of any action being taken to ensure there is sufficient capacity’ is therefore also pivotal.”