3. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on business rates relief in Wales? OAQ(5)0089(FLG)

I thank the Member for the question. The Welsh Government remains committed to supporting businesses in Wales, through our small business rates relief scheme, transitional relief and targeted high-street relief, to help them invest in and deliver long-term economic growth in Wales, while maintaining a sustainable funding stream for vital local services.

Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Yesterday, in First Minister’s questions—and I appreciate that you were away at a finance meeting yesterday, Cabinet Secretary, but hopefully your officials have made you aware—the First Minister did indicate that you would be bringing forward a statement at the end of this week, outlining how the additional £10 million that was announced in December was going to be distributed to businesses affected by the revaluation. Could I encourage you maybe to use this opportunity—the third question in finance questions—to inform Plenary of how you propose to do that, rather than wait until the end of the week, when Members will not have an opportunity to raise questions that they might think appropriate, given their constituents’ interest in this particular aspect?

Well, Llywydd, I am doing my very best to make sure that there will be such a statement before we go into recess, and I am happy to confirm what the First Minister said yesterday. We are in the very final stages of putting all those proposals together. We are still waiting for some very last data from the valuation authority to allow us to do that. Of course, I understand that there will be many Members in the Chamber who will have a direct interest in the detail of it. I’m very happy to say that if any Member has a need for further information, or questions that they want to raise, I will do my best to respond to them individually as quickly as possible, once that statement has been made.

Cabinet Secretary, on a day when we await the results of the Tata Steel ballot in relation to the steel industry and the future of that, it’s important that we clarify the position on business rates with steel. It has been often raised in this Chamber about the support the Welsh Government can give. Have you had further discussions with UK Government colleagues or EU officials in relation to what the Welsh Government can do to reduce the business rates? Because that is an important factor to ensure that we have a level playing field across Europe.

Well, I thank David Rees for that. It’s a rare question, Llywydd, that points to a sector where rateable values have significantly reduced as a result of the Valuation Office Agency’s recent revaluation. Here in Wales, the fall in the bills that will be paid by the steel industry will have a material impact on that industry. Unlike in England, we will allow the industry to have the full benefit of those reductions because we don’t finance the help that we give to people whose bills are rising by taking money away from companies whose bills are falling. I know there’s been a lot of commentary in England calling for the steel industry in England to be treated as advantageously as the steel industry in Wales. So, I thank the Member for the question because it draws attention to a particularly important part of the way that we do this business here in Wales.

Minister, traders in Neath market have, for some time, been offered reduced business rates, with some benefiting from paying none at all. However, recently, I spoke with some traders in the market who informed me that Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council have increased their rents to the point where some will be forced to close or move their business elsewhere. Would you agree that offering an economic incentive in terms of reduced business rates, and then undercutting that by increasing rents at the same time, undermines the actual point of the reduced business rates? And could you join with me in potentially writing to Neath Port Talbot council to raise these concerns? It is a very real issue at the moment, where many of the traders are saying that they simply cannot see a future at the market if things do not change.

I am not aware of the issue, but I am very happy to agree to write to the council to discover more of the actions that they have taken.