Wales’ high street shops, pubs, and cafes are “paying more than their fair share” while online giants thrive, Jane Dodds told the Senedd this week. Video from Senedd.tv
00:00Good afternoon, first minister. You've heard lots of comments and I would agree with some but disagree with quite a few.
00:09We do have an outdated business system here in our town centres, which is forcing our businesses to compete with one hand tied behind their backs.
00:18We have a position here with high street shops, pubs and cafes are paying far more than their fair share, while online giants are paying much, much less.
00:29Amazon pays only 0.4% of its sales in business rates, compared to around 5% for other retailers.
00:40In England, we've seen that targeted support for hospitality is being extended, but not here in Wales.
00:47So I really want to just press you on the issue of a levy on online sales and that that levy can go to support our local businesses.
00:58So do you support a levy on online sales?
01:03And if you do, how would you see that being used to support our small businesses here in Wales?
01:10Well, thanks very much.
01:12We recognise that we do need to be sensitive to the different needs of the different businesses on our high streets and that's why we've undertaken a consultation on changing the non-domestic rates multiplier in Wales and the results of that will come out shortly.
01:31Now, what I can tell you is that we are serious as a government in terms of putting our town centres first.
01:37That's why we have a town centre first policy.
01:40That's why we've invested over £100 million in transforming towns, making a difference in every community, in every constituency across Wales.
01:51We're touching each of those constituencies in some way.
01:53When it comes to online sales, obviously this is something that is under the remit of the UK government rather than the Welsh government.
02:01But what I can tell you is that we are very proud of the fact that we are trying to drive businesses into the town centre, making sure that we have a balanced approach to the town centre.
02:15And that's why we've made it clear, when it comes to the future, we do want to see, for example, licensing for tobacco and vape shops in our community because there is a proliferation of those and there's an imbalance on our high street in relation to those.
02:36Questions now from the party leaders. Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Dara Miller.
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