Part of 1. 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 1 November 2016.
I understand the point, of course, but I am confident that the scheme that I’ve already alluded to will assist many of the businesses that have seen an increase in the sum that they need to pay.
We must remember that, with the majority of businesses, the last time they went through this process was back in 2008, when the economy was in a much better state, historically, and the level of rates that they would have been paying would have been much higher. We’ve already seen this in the steel industry. Of course, it doesn’t mean to say that every business is in the same position, but because we’ve identified the fact that some businesses will see an increase, that is why this pro tem scheme has been put in place.