FSB Wales in conversation with:
Welsh Labour
1. How would your party ensure that small businesses are genuinely placed at the centre of Welsh Government decision-making and policy development?
As a council leader, I work closely with local SMEs and know how important they are to our economy. Small businesses are also critical to our ambitions for partnership governance and to grow the Welsh economy in a fair and sustainable way.
Our key manifesto pledges will all have an impact on SMEs. Tackling the cost-of-living through cheaper transport, lower energy bills and expanded childcare will put money back into consumer pockets, bring down the costs of running a business, and encourage parents back into the workforce.
Committing to renewable energy projects and building new hospitals will have a knock-on effect in supply chains.
And our Lifelong Retraining Guarantee will ensure that there is that safety net for workers who might need to retrain in the changing world of work.
2. What measures would your party introduce to revitalise Wales’s struggling high streets?
We recognise the threat online retail has posed to our high streets, in Wales as elsewhere. A new lower multiplier is being introduced this April to reduce rates for small and medium-sized bricks and mortar retailers, cutting bills by £20m per year for those retailers.
We will also work across different levels of Government with local councils and businesses to invest in our high streets. The Tidy Towns fund is helping make improvements to cities, towns and villages around Wales, building on the Transforming Towns programme.
We have also provided £300m per year of extra support for food and drink businesses through rates relief, on top of existing rates relief schemes.
3. What actions would your party take to boost SME productivity across Wales?
We want to work with SMEs to ensure that supply chains work, so SMEs can take advantage of opportunities in the green economy and from investment in infrastructure, from new hospitals and schools to train stations.
We want to work with businesses to ensure workers in Wales have the skills needed in the 21st century, with our Lifelong Retraining Guarantee.
We want to work to get the investment in research and development and equipment you need to move your businesses forward. We’ve helped businesses grow with over £600m in loans, equity and grants, and set up a green business loans fund via the Development Bank of Wales to help SMEs reduce energy costs.
We also want to help Welsh businesses take the opportunities available internationally. Welsh businesses recorded £112m of new export sales as a direct result of export support in the past financial year.
4. What specific policies would your party implement to reduce the rising costs of doing business for SMEs in Wales?
The Welsh Labour Government have reformed non-domestic rates after engagement with SMEs. From April, a new lower multiplier is being introduced, which will reduce rates bills for small and medium-sized bricks and mortar retailers. This will cut bills by around £20m a year for these retailers and will make this complex tax fairer.
This is on top of what we are already doing on rates relief. We have made this a priority, with £250m a year in permanent business rates relief. Around two thirds of all properties in Wales now either pay no rates, or receive some form of relief.
Welsh Labour are also working hard to bring energy bills down for families and businesses alike, investing in renewable energy and making homes more energy efficient.
5. What commitments would your party make to prioritise skills-led economic growth for SMEs in Wales?
Ensuring Wales has the skills and the workforce it needs for the future is critical. The UK Labour Government brought forward two AI Growth Zones in Wales – one in the North and one in the South – in order to attract the jobs of the future. With that comes a commitment to bring the workforce along with it, with funding available to upskill or retrain.
Welsh Labour are going even further. If re-elected, our Lifelong Training Guarantee will make sure that no worker in Wales gets left behind because of the pace of change in work.
We will make sure workers can access the training they need by reviewing and simplifying all training and adult learning offers.
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Please note the above information, via the Welsh Labour Party, was submitted by Anthony Hunt