Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 1:46 pm on 5 February 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay Conservative 1:46, 5 February 2020

Minister, you are right to say that there are a number of businesses that pay no rates at all. I visited Chepstow high street recently and on one street there, there are a number of businesses that aren't paying rates. Unfortunately, in the same street, there are then businesses that are of a very similar size but may fall into a different zone that find themselves clobbered with really high rates of business rates relative to the size of the business. So, would you agree with me that there's an argument here for reviewing this whole system to make sure that it's fairer?

If you look at land transaction tax for non-commercial properties over £1 million and business rates, it seems to be that these are outstripping our counterparts in Scotland and England at the moment—an issue I raised yesterday. So, could you undertake to look again at business rates? They are a tax, effectively, and they are affecting many of our particularly small businesses, which are the backbone of the economy.