North Wales MS calls for Welsh Government rethink on cuts to business rate relief

A North Wales politician has called on the Welsh Government to rethink controversial cuts to business rate relief.

As part of its draft budget the Welsh Government is proposing to reduce the amount rate relief for the retail, leisure and hospitality sector from 75 per cent to 40 per cent.

The relief will be capped at £110,000 per business across Wales. ‌​‌‌​​​‌‍‌​‌​‌‌‌​‍‌​​​‌​‌‌‍‌​​​‌‌​‌‍‌​​‌‌‌‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌​​‌​‌​​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​​‌‌​‌​‍‌​​‌‌‌​​‍‌‌​​‌‌​‌‍‌‌​​‌‌​​

However the proposed changes to business rate relief has come under fire from opposition parties, who have raised concern about the impact it could have on the high street at already volatile time.

Conservative Member of the Senedd for North Wales Sam Rowlands said the Welsh Government risk ‘killing the golden goose’ with its stance on business rates.

In a recent Senedd debate Mr Rowlands argued that a “move from 75 per cent to 40 per cent relief is a step too far”.

He said: “Thriving businesses are the lifeblood of our communities and it should be an absolute priority for Welsh Government to support and enable businesses to flourish across Wales.

“Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that at the moment from the Labour Government here in Cardiff Bay, because, as we’ve heard, slashing those business rate reliefs from 75 per cent to 40 per cent would sadly cause too many businesses to go under and put serious pressure on many others.

“The numbers that make up the economy here in Wales on this particular issue, with the hospitality sector employing 165,000 people and contributing around £4 billion to the economy and the retail sector employing around 139,000 people as well.

“These are big numbers and show how important these businesses are to Wales.

“Behind every statistic, is an individual, a family, a network that relies on the success of those businesses and the creation of jobs, whether it’s a family-run greengrocers or a large pub chain, all making a difference in our communities and for people.

Welsh Conservative MS for North Wales Sam Rowlands

“The level of funding from UK Government, is that for every £1 spent on public services in England, Welsh Government receives £1.20. So, when there’s talk of unfair levels of money, there’s a 20% uplift to acknowledge some of the challenges here in Wales.

“Taxation is something that we pay to fund those public services, but we need to see businesses flourishing. We need people being able to get up in the morning and be confident going into their place of work, into their place of business, that it’s going to be successful in the future for them and their families.

“At the moment, as Conservatives, we feel that that move from 75 per cent to 40 per cent relief is a step too far.

“Welsh Government has had the money passed to it to reinstate that business rates relief to 75% cent, and we believe, you should do that immediately.”

However Finance Minister Rebecca Evans MS said that “almost half of all ratepayers in Wales, including thousands of small businesses, benefit from full rates relief.”

She said: “We’re also investing £78 million to provide that fifth successive year of rate relief for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in 2024-25.

“And let’s remember that that was always a temporary scheme and businesses would not have been factoring in any relief of that sort into their plans for the next financial year.

“This, of course, builds on what’s been almost £1 billion of support provided to businesses since the onset of the pandemic.

“A new £20 million capital fund is also being developed to help these sectors future-proof their businesses, and we hope to be able to say more about that fund shortly.

“Through our generous package of reliefs, almost half of all ratepayers in Wales, including thousands of small businesses, benefit from full rates relief.

“When partial support is included as well, ratepayers for more than 80 per cent of properties will benefit from relief in 2024-25.

“That equates to 104,000 properties across Wales, or, to put it another way, less than 20 per cent of properties will attract full rates.”