Vale of Clwyd MP Dr James Davies last week questioned the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma, over how certain tourism and leisure facilities might open safely once the covid alert level is low in all parts of the UK.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK, James has received high levels of correspondence from tourism and leisure businesses in the Vale of Clwyd expressing concern about how they will survive the crisis.
James raised their plight with the Secretary of State for Business, and asked him to confirm that he is looking at how certain tourism and leisure facilities might open safely as and when the covid alert level is low in all parts of the UK. His question, delivered via Zoom, can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/8SKcFW5RHAg.
The Secretary of State replied:
“I know that my Honourable Friend is a champion for businesses in his constituency and he will be concerned for them. The Prime Minister has set out a timeline, but, as he has said, we also have to be cautious about how we proceed. We are currently looking at hospitality opening at some point in July, but that is entirely dependent on making sure that we keep the ‘R’ factor down. In the meantime, as my Honourable Friend knows and has heard from the Chancellor, additional support is being provided.”
Speaking after the meeting James said:
“The Secretary of State was right to say that I am concerned for these businesses. There are a vast number of them here in the Vale of Clwyd and it is vital that we do everything we can to ensure that they can recover from this pandemic and prosper once again. However, their reopening is not something that can be hurried. They can only reopen when it is absolutely safe to do so, but in the meantime they need additional support and I am pleased that the Chancellor is providing that to them
