1. Will the First Minister provide an update on support available to businesses affected by the business rate revaluation? OAQ(5)497(FM)

The Welsh Government has announced an extra £20 million to support businesses affected by the rates revaluation—£10 million through our transitional relief scheme and £10 million for high-street rates relief. This is in addition to our £100 million small business rates relief. We’ve acted to provide certainty and security to ratepayers in Wales affected by revaluation.

Thank you for that answer, leader of the house. Businesses in my constituency continue to be deeply concerned by the business rate revaluation. Whilst any additional support is welcome—I hear about the relief that your Government has announced—the additional discount is a drop in the ocean for those businesses facing the biggest hikes. What assessment has been made of the number of businesses who will not benefit from the scheme of support that the Welsh Government is putting in place, and will the Government look again at raising the threshold at which businesses start paying business rates in order to avert some of the large-scale business closures that I fear are going to happen after April?

Our £10 million transitional rates relief scheme will assist businesses whose entitlement to small business rates relief would be adversely affected by revaluation. Our £10 million high-street rates relief specifically targets businesses in your constituency. I know there are high-street ratepayers, including shops, pubs and cafes, and, of course, we listened to the concerns and responded to the small businesses in Wales. These are bespoke-funded schemes, and, indeed, they are in addition to our £100 million small business rates relief. As a result, three quarters of businesses will receive help with their bills in 2017-18.

Leader of the house, as a result of revaluation, the average rateable value in Rhondda Cynon Taff has decreased by 6.1 per cent. With this being a fairly common pattern across the area, what impact could this have on the Welsh Government’s policies towards promoting economic prosperity across the south Wales Valleys?

Well, of course, the statistics that were published by the valuation authority show that total rateable value will fall in all of the Valleys authorities. That does mean that the majority of ratepayers in these areas will benefit from a reduction in their bills, and we’ve acted to provide that additional support to businesses through an extension of £100 million small business rates relief scheme. But, of course, Business Wales, and all the other levers that will assist businesses in your constituency, will have a bearing on economic opportunity, including the city deal, in which Rhondda Cynon Taff is a key partner.

Notwithstanding the point made by the Member for the Cynon Valley, this is fundamentally an unfair tax. It’s wreaking economic carnage on our high streets. Isn’t it time just to scrap this tax altogether and replace it with something like an internet sales tax?

Clearly, this is an issue where we have worked over a period of time, as a very pro-business Government, to take action to help new and existing businesses, and to indeed look at the impact not just in terms of revaluation, but our business support scheme. We are looking at a new permanent scheme in terms of small business rates relief from 2018, and it’s important to target support in ways that reflect the needs of Wales. We have engaged as widely as possible about our schemes in the short time available between the Valuation Office Agency’s publication of its draft rating list and the date by which these regulations had to be in place. But it is their scheme. We have to make sure that it redistributes the amount payable between properties, reflecting changes in the property market. That’s their responsibility.

Leader of the house, the business rate revaluation is putting our high street at risk. Many small businesses are facing huge hikes in their rates bills, yet their turnover is not increasing. For many, the only alternative is to seek rental properties with smaller rateable values off the high street, and this could be the final straw that breaks the camel’s back for small, independent high-street retailers. The UK Government’s latest budget proposes a cap on the business rates increases for those small firms set to lose their rate relief. Leader of the house, will your Government consider doing something similar for small high-street retailers here in Wales?

Can I just make it clear that we’re doing more than the UK Government? If you look at the funding for the rates relief measures that the Chancellor announced last week, it would amount to just over £12 million. If we’d relied on that, it would have meant £8 million less support for small businesses in Wales. We’ve got two fully funded bespoke schemes. I’m sure many of the businesses in your constituency will particularly benefit from those two—not just the transitional scheme, but also the new scheme that is specifically targeting those high-street ratepayers.