Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 15 February 2017.
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.