Shadow Finance Minister and North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today emphasised the need for ongoing support for businesses as Wales comes out of lockdown and asked the Finance Minister what consideration she has given to providing them with this from the £1.3 billion the Welsh Government has not yet allocated.
Speaking in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, he said:
“This month’s Wales Fiscal Analysis Report on ‘the Implications for Wales and the Welsh Budget’ of the UK Budget 2021 states that the Welsh Government ‘left £610 million of unallocated day-to-day spending in Final Budget plans’ and that ‘With additional consequentials from the UK Budget and changes to projected devolved revenues, this means the Welsh Government currently has approximately £1.3 billion to allocate at future supplementary budgets’.
“However, your Written Statement on 11th March, announcing an additional £380m of non-domestic rates relief for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in 2021/22 directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, states that this “makes full use of the consequential funding for Wales resulting from the Chancellor’s Budget on 3 March”.
“How do you therefore explain this apparent difference, and what consideration have you given to wider provision for businesses, within a road map out of lockdown, from the remaining carried-forward budget available to you?”
The Minister’s reply failed to answer Mr Isherwood’s questions.
Mr Isherwood also called for confirmation from the Minister that local authorities can use their discretion to support self-catering businesses.
He said:
“After the Welsh Government issued revised Grant eligibility criteria for self-catering businesses last April, Isle of Anglesey County Council's Chief Executive told me ‘the change in the guidance was designed to ensure that Councils did not pay grants to people who had simply switched their property from the Council Tax register to Business Rates in order to avoid paying the Council Tax premium on second homes’ and that ‘the Council is using the discretion allowed by the guidance to make sure that we pay genuine self-catering businesses and we are not automatically disqualifying applications simply because the business does not show that the property generates at least 50% of the owners annual income’.
“When I previously wrote to you regarding eligibility, you also confirmed in writing that local authorities ‘are not obligated to withhold payment if they are otherwise satisfied that the application is from a legitimate self-catering business’. However, a view has recently been expressed to me that Local Authorities should only use discretion on whether or not to award a grant where a self-catering business applicant falls ‘just short’ of one of the three criteria, and they would expect local authorities to use their discretion only in such circumstances. For clarity, will you therefore confirm that both your original response to me - and that of Anglesey's Chief Executive - still stand?”
The Minister confirmed that the discretionary fund “does give local authorities wide discretion to make those allocations to businesses that they think are important to the local community and that they feel have a genuine case to be made for financial support” and said “It's not for the Welsh Government to direct local authorities as to how they exercise the discretion that we've given them within the fund”.
Responding to the Minister, Mr. Isherwood said “Precisely, and the question wasn't about directing local authorities; it's simply acknowledging that they have the discretion for them to exercise. So, thank you for confirming that”.