Can I extend my congratulations to the Cabinet Secretary on his election as the leader of his party?

It is to be welcomed that the Welsh Government has decided to use the £26 million budget consequential from increased spending by the UK Conservative Government to extend its high street rates relief scheme for a further year. But this only, of course, represents a temporary fix to the pressure facing small and medium-sized businesses in Wales. Sadly, what we do have before us today is the most expensive rate multiplier in Great Britain. This will increase, I think, the burden on SMEs, and no amount of temporary rate relief can counter that fact, coupled with a very low permanent business rate relief of 100 per cent for rateable values under £6,000. Welsh businesses will face a poorer deal than their counterparts in Scotland and England. I hope the Cabinet Secretary can therefore explain why he is reluctant to adopt what I and colleagues on these benches have been calling for: the wholesale reform of the business rates system in Wales and 100 per cent rate relief for those with a rateable value of up to £15,000. The point I would make is that the UK Government set out a business tax road map in March 2016 to give businesses clarity on its plans for business rates up to and beyond 2020. This includes more frequent business rates revaluations within at least a three-year interval.

I wonder if you do acknowledge that, without taking these steps, your Government will be presiding over a country that is fast becoming the least competitive country in the UK. What Wales needs now, more than ever before, is a fresh approach by first understanding that businesses, and investing in businesses, lead to opportunities for jobs, regeneration and, ultimately, a higher tax return for the Government.

The First Minister said today that one of the greatest challenges of the Welsh economy would be to ensure that small businesses want to and are able to grow into major companies, and I agree with him. But higher business rates and a higher rate multiplier are going to prevent those small and medium-sized businesses from expanding further. So, we are unable to support the Government today, as the Order leaves business owners strangled by the Welsh Government's outdated business rates regime.