Will the Cabinet Secretary confirm whether the Welsh Government is considering increasing the rate relief available to small businesses in Wales?
There are no current proposals to amend the non-domestic rates relief available to small businesses in Wales. Our permanent Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) is providing over £140m of relief to around 70,000 properties, with over 50,000 of these receiving 100% relief. The cost of SBRR is fully funded by the Welsh Government and is equivalent to 10% of total non-domestic rates revenue.
SBRR is part of a wider package of non-domestic rates support worth £384m in 2024-25. As a consequence, almost half of all ratepayers, including small businesses across Wales, will benefit from full rates relief. When partial relief is included, ratepayers for more than 80% of properties will benefit. That equates to 104,000 properties across Wales getting full or partial relief. To put it another way, less than 20% of properties will attract full rates.
Full details of our non-domestic rates support for 2024-25 are provided in the written statement available at the following link: https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-non-domestic-rates-support-2024-25.