Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:35 pm on 3 May 2017.
Thank you, Cabinet Secretary. Since being elected last year, I’ve regularly been in contact with small businesses and communities across my constituency, and small business representatives, such as the Mold business forum, to take on board their concerns and to bring that to people’s attention to take action where needed. Most recently, I’ve been working closely with representatives in Holywell, whose town centre has been left reeling by bank closures on the back of one another. But, despite this, I think there’s an energy and enthusiasm there to turn the town’s fortunes around, with exciting initiatives such as a teenage market to encourage young entrepreneurs. And just down the road in Flint, I’ve recently met with business owners along with my MP counterpart. A lot of these have been hit by business tax revaluation. I know that’s being addressed, and they’ve repealed that, but they’re also feeling the pinch of the temporary drop in footfall as a consequence of the regeneration work that is taking place and is well under way in the town centre. It’s brought to my attention that we need to think outside the box about how we can create healthy high streets for the future. So, Cabinet Secretary, can I ask if you’ll give consideration to how the Welsh Government’s taxation and other new powers could be used to more innovative ends, in order to better sustain our high streets and encourage and allow them to prosper in the future?