A Permanent Small Business Rates Relief Scheme

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:21 pm on 13 December 2017.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 3:21, 13 December 2017

At the time of the Assembly election, the Labour manifesto promised,

'We will offer a tax cut to all small businesses in Wales'.

I presume that this is the policy announcement that is designed to give effect to that pledge. Now, that could have been achieved through a variety of means—by raising the lower and upper thresholds for relief and increasing the rate, introducing a split multiplier differential between small and larger businesses. Can the Cabinet Secretary confirm that he's done none of those things? And so, effectively, by my calculation, the proportion of small businesses that will benefit from the relief that he's announced will be around about 70 per cent, not all small businesses in Wales, as was suggested by the pledge. 

In terms of the detail of what he's announced, could he give us a bit more detail about the targeted support for the small hydropower schemes? I was very glad to see that. That was part of the budget agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Government. But could we have some more of the detail of that? I presume the reference to the living wage is a reference to the real living wage, not the national living wage. And in terms of the forward programme of work, the ideas for future exploration, there seems to be a suggestion that business rate relief will be conditional in future. Does he see it being linked in some way with some of the criteria set out yesterday in the economic action plan in terms of the economic contract between businesses seeking investment and the Government?