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Councillor calls business rate relief cuts a ‘sure-fire way to lose a high street’

26 Dec 2023 3 minute read
Blackwood. Photo via Google

Cuts to a Wales-wide business rate relief programme are a “sure-fire way to lose a high street”, a councillor has warned.

Nigel Dix, a Caerphilly county councillor said traders in his hometown of Blackwood were “struggling to make ends meet”, and the high street had lost two banks and “major retailer” Wilko.

He said the Welsh Government’s proposal to cut rates relief from 75% to 40% next year was another “spanner thrown in the works” for businesses.

‘Just about managing’

The Welsh Government defended its “generous” programme of business support and said “almost half of ratepayers, including thousands of small businesses across Wales, do not pay rates at all”.

Cllr Dix, an independent from Blackwood, said there were traders “just about managing” financially, adding that “we need to make sure we have a high street that’s going to be there in the future”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said he feared businesses were “going to fail” as a result of the lower rate relief offer included in the Welsh Government’s draft budget proposals for 2024/25.

“It’s going to make maintaining a business in the town even more difficult than it already is,” Cllr Dix said, warning that traders were “going to need to find 35% more income”.

“It’ll lead to more empty shops – that’s not going to be better for anybody,” he added. “We’ll end up with nothing. It’s a sure-fire way to lose a high street.”

When she announced the draft budget proposals on December 19, Welsh Government finance minister Rebecca Evans said the 75% programme of “temporary” relief was “never intended to continue indefinitely”.

“Our move to more frequent revaluations will ensure that non‑domestic rates bills better reflect up-to-date market conditions for all sectors of the tax-base,” she added.

Welsh Government support

Responding to Cllr Dix’s comments, a Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “We are providing a package of rates support worth £134 million next year on top of our permanent relief schemes, which are worth £250m a year.

“Thanks to our generous system of full reliefs, almost half of ratepayers, including thousands of small businesses across Wales, do not pay rates at all.”

The Welsh Government was “providing a fifth successive year of support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with their rates bills, at a cost of £78m,” she added. “This builds on the almost £1bn of support provided in rates relief schemes to these sectors since 2020/21.”

“We have taken the decision to cap the increase to the non-domestic rates multiplier for 2024-25 to 5%, at a recurring annual cost to the Welsh budget of £18m,” the Welsh Government spokesperson said. “This is the maximum level of support affordable using all of the consequential funding which came to Wales as a result of decisions relating to the multiplier announced in the UK Government’s Autumn Statement.”


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Llyn
Llyn
9 months ago

For context Nigel Dix was part of the British nationalist anti devolution “True Wales” campaign group who campaigned with far-right allies such as UKIP in the 2011 referendum.

Richard
Richard
9 months ago
Reply to  Llyn

Does that make him wrong on this particular topic?

Llyn
Llyn
9 months ago
Reply to  Richard

We’ll it gives a good idea why this councillor has come out so vociferously against the Welsh Government on this – his Putinist outlook on Wales being ruled completely from London. As for rate relief. Perhaps if businesses can’t survive with a whooping 40% rate relief then perhaps the issue is with the businesses’ viability and the horrendous post Brexit business climate caused by the UK gov’s incompetent policies?

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