Will the Minister confirm exactly how much funding was unused in the last round of the economic resilience fund?
A total of £9.8m in grant support was received by businesses in the Hospitality sector through the latest phase of the Wales only Economic Resilience Fund (ERF) during the period December 2021 to February 2022.
Of the £120m demand led ERF announced to support businesses in the Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure sectors and their supply chains during the period December 2021 to February 2022, £71.6m has been used.
As with previous rounds of ERF, funding was made available for the demand led fund based on public health protections which were subject to regular reviews as part of the response to the threat posed by the Omircron variant.
The Welsh Government made available £120m in order to ensure businesses impacted by the new variant were able to access the support required in the event that the impact of Omicron had been more severe.
The eligibility criteria was also amended to ensure that more businesses were able to access the latest phase of the Wales only ERF.