Regenerating Newport City Centre

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 10 March 2020.

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Photo of Mohammad Asghar Mohammad Asghar Conservative 1:50, 10 March 2020

First Minister, research by the Local Data Company shows that Wales has the highest shop-closure rates in the United Kingdom. In the first half of the last year, the number of shops in Newport fell by 3.5 per cent. The Welsh Retail Consortium points out that retail accounts for over a quarter of the business rate take in Wales. Although small business rate relief and transitional rate relief are a welcome recognition of the need to keep down costs for firms, three quarters of the retail employment is with firms who do not qualify for this. First Minister, do you agree that the existence of such relief schemes demonstrates the urgent need to reform business rates in Wales to help regenerate city centres such as Newport?