3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the support available to assist community hydro energy projects with their business rates? OAQ52935

In April, we introduced a grant scheme to provide hydropower project in Wales with grants towards their non-domestic rates bills. The scheme provides 100 per cent rates relief to community hydro projects and caps the increase in rates for other hydropower developments.

And Plaid Cymru was very pleased to ensure that business rates relief for community energy projects as part of the budget agreement for this financial year with the Government, but there is no assurance to date that the business rate relief will be available for the next financial year or for ensuing years. These projects clearly need long-term assurances so that they can plan for their future, and without that assurance, it’s difficult for them to plan and to collaborate with community groups and local charities, and, indeed, it’s difficult for new initiatives to be set up. So, will you commit to ensuring that these business rate relief schemes are available permanently for these hydroenergy schemes?

Well, it’s difficult to do that, of course. That is something for the next Government to consider and it depends on the amount of funding we receive from Westminster, but, of course, we understand how much of a help this has been for hydropower, and we will consider the situation when we know more about the financial position in the next financial year onwards.

First Minister, I think it's fair to say that we could be using the business rate regime far more imaginatively to target support, whether that be for hydroenergy projects, as Siân Gwenllian has alluded to, other renewable projects or, indeed, our high streets, and we know full well the problems that have afflicted some high street businesses in areas such as Monmouth in my constituency in the wake of revaluation. 

You mentioned your successor; will you leave a note for your successor, whoever that might be—I think that's the way it's done in Labour circles—to look again at this whole area of business rates and ways that the tax could be reformed to actually help rather than hinder the economy over the longer term, not just the next budget or next two budgets?

I think in the Conservative Party it's a gangplank that's used mainly, isn't it, to deal with changes of leadership? Any note or notes that I leave will, of course, be electronic. We are, of course, moving towards being a paperless Government. 

From our perspective, we will always try and use the non-domestic rates regime in innovative and imaginative ways. We've done it, of course, with the small business rate relief scheme, which helped so many businesses across Wales, and we will look to see what might be possible in the future, depending, of course, on what moneys are made available through the block grant.