Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:56 pm on 11 March 2020.
Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Could I ask the finance Minister to explain how her strategy in terms of business rates relief in Wales differs from that being pursued by the UK Government? They announced today that the 50 per cent retail discount that they have next year is going up to 100 per cent and being extended to leisure and hospitality. Is that an approach that she is attracted to?
And the other efforts they have to support small business, some seem to be on the cusp of what's devolved and what's not. For instance, the British business bank start-up loan fund that they're increasing; by virtue of its name, I assume that businesses in Wales are eligible for that, but I do not know as a fact whether they are. And, what sounded like a rate relief measure in the budget is actually not under the business rates relief heading, but comes under a separate small business grant funding heading, but it seems to have been limited to England through making a £2.2 billion payment through English local authorities and then they give £3,000 back to every business that benefits from their small business rate relief. To extend that small business grant funding, is it right that that should be done by the UK Government on an England-only basis, given what's devolved here?
And I don't expect the Minister to announce her decisions for small business rate relief within an hour or two of the UK budget here, but I wonder if she could say something about her strategy and the outcomes and what she's trying to achieve through that and how that differs from Wales to England.