Written question WQ86712

Non-domestic rates contribute more than £1.1bn a year to fund vital local government and police services in Wales – services that all businesses benefit from. The main purpose of the non-domestic rates system is to raise revenue for local services, but it can be used as a mechanism to provide support in a targeted manner through reliefs and exemptions. The Welsh Government continues to assess ways in which support can be used more effectively to support wider government priorities.

Many ratepayers, including new businesses, benefit from our extensive package of relief schemes. The Welsh Government provided over £620m of reliefs to ratepayers in Wales in 2021-22, and we are providing over £350m this year. All these reliefs are fully funded by the Welsh Government. We are supporting over 85,000 properties in Wales with their rates bills this year, through the combination of our permanent relief schemes and the extension of our Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief scheme. Many new businesses will be benefitting from the support provided through our permanent Small Business Rates Relief scheme.

We have provided unprecedented financial support to businesses and other ratepayers over recent years, and particularly since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Our permanent relief schemes mean that 44 per cent of the tax-base do not pay any non-domestic rates at all.

Moving forward, ensuring non-domestic rates reliefs are targeted appropriately and are effective is crucial, especially given the considerable funding we have invested in them. It is timely to consider the review of reliefs I have announced, given how the landscape of reliefs has evolved over a number of years, while the context in which businesses are operating has also changed considerably.