While we welcome the Welsh Government's decision to use the consumer price index rather than the retail price index, this will still see business rates rise for struggling businesses across Wales. Using CPI still results in a 1.7 per cent increase for business rates across Wales, and, at a time when businesses are struggling and our high street is in serious decline, the worst thing we can do is to raise business rates once more, even by any small amount. The Local Government Finance Act 2012 allows for a figure less than the retail prices index, so why then use CPI when we could have set a rate that would have frozen business rates, which would have stimulated the economy?

We welcome the fact that the increase is not as high as it could have been. However, our struggling high street and business owners across the nation still cannot afford this hike in business rates. Diolch yn fawr.