Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:33 pm on 4 June 2024.
Natasha Asghar
Conservative
1:33,
4 June 2024
First Minister, let's bring it back to Wales now. We're in the Welsh Parliament; let the UK Government focus on their own things. Now, First Minister, businesses in Wales are finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat following the Welsh Government's decision to cut business rate relief. Labour Ministers' move to slash the relief from 75 per cent to 40 per cent now means that businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 will be left with a rates bill of nearly £8,500. This isn't just a couple of pennies or pounds, First Minister; we're talking about businesses being expected to find thousands of pounds. UK Labour's Shadow Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, recently described your party as the natural party of British businesses and said that you are pro worker and pro business. That's simply not true, is it, First Minister, under Labour, because here in Wales we have the highest business rates in Great Britain, extremely low business survival rates, the second lowest gross value added growth since 1999 out of the UK nations, and the highest economic inactivity levels out of the four nations. So, do you think the Welsh Government should finally stop punishing hardworking businesses and start helping them thrive? And do you not think a good place to start would be reintroducing the 75 per cent rate relief support? Thank you.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The Chancellor - also known as "Chancellor of the Exchequer" is responsible as a Minister for the treasury, and for the country's economy. For Example, the Chancellor set taxes and tax rates. The Chancellor is the only MP allowed to drink Alcohol in the House of Commons; s/he is permitted an alcoholic drink while delivering the budget.
The shadow cabinet is the name given to the group of senior members from the chief opposition party who would form the cabinet if they were to come to power after a General Election. Each member of the shadow cabinet is allocated responsibility for `shadowing' the work of one of the members of the real cabinet.
The Party Leader assigns specific portfolios according to the ability, seniority and popularity of the shadow cabinet's members.
