NDM7339 - Opposition Debate
Tabled on 17/06/2020 | For debate on 24/06/2020To propose that the Senedd:
1. Recognises that the coronavirus pandemic is both a public health and an economic emergency.
2. Welcomes the economic benefits afforded to Wales as a result of being part of the United Kingdom during the pandemic, including funding for:
a) the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which is protecting 316,500 livelihoods in Wales; and
b) the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme which is helping 102,000 people in Wales.
3. Notes with concern the Centre for Towns report 'Covid and our Towns' which suggests that the economies of towns in the valleys and on the north Wales coast will be among those hardest hit by the pandemic.
4. Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish a Covid Community Recovery Fund to provide targeted economic support for those communities most adversely affected by the pandemic.
Tabled By
Amendments
Delete points 3 and 4 and replace with:
Welcomes the Welsh Government’s £500m Economic Resilience Fund, part of a £1.7bn package of support for business in Wales in response to the pandemic, which is the most generous anywhere in the UK.
Notes that EU funding has helped the Welsh Government respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and further notes that without successor funding the Welsh Government will be unable to respond at this scale in any future crisis.
Notes the Centre for Towns report ‘Covid and our Towns’ and welcomes the cross-government measures the Welsh Government is taking through its Town Centre Action Group and ‘Transforming Towns’ agenda across Wales.
Recognises the important role that creative and dynamic town councils and Business Improvement Districts will play in helping town centres recover from the economic impact of Coronavirus.
Welcomes the experimental work being done through the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund to explore new ways of building resilience into towns and communities across Wales which can support our response to the covid pandemic.
Welcomes calls made by organisations including WLGA, FSB Cymru, Wales TUC, Institute for Fiscal Studies and Wales Governance Centre for the UK Government to urgently remove the fiscal restrictions that significantly limit the Welsh Government’s spending power to allow it to respond effectively to the pandemic.
Further calls on the UK Government to develop a significant economic stimulus package that can support the Welsh Government’s work towards a green and just recovery for towns and communities the length and breadth of Wales in light of the pandemic.
Tabled By
Add as new point at end of motion:
Believes that now is the time for the UK Government to devolve further fiscal powers to the Welsh Government so that it is able to better care for the people of Wales in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tabled By
Delete point 4 and replace with:
Calls upon the Welsh Government to establish an All-Wales Renewal Fund to deal with the effects of the pandemic, that would transform sectors identified as being hit hardest by Covid-19, build a sustainable Wales by paving the way to a carbon free nation by 2030 and develop a new sense of ‘localism’ which values public services.