SAM ROWLANDS MS calls for more support for small businesses in North Wales
Sam Rowlands, Member of the Welsh Parliament for North Wales, has hit out at Labour’s anti-business policies.
Mr Rowlands, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Transport and Infrastructure was speaking in the Senedd following last Saturday’s Small Business Saturday event.
He said: “Some of the most visible small businesses in North Wales are often those tourism and hospitality sector businesses that are responsible for tens of thousands of jobs in my region—around one in eight jobs linked to tourism and hospitality.
“But those businesses are facing some of the sharpest of Labour’s anti-business policies, including the tourism tax that you’re seeking to deliver, the pressure on self-catering accommodation, requiring 182 nights of overnight accommodation, and some of the highest business rates in the UK as well.
“Now, this is leading to Wales having the highest rates of unemployment in the UK and the lowest pay packets, the worst of the two combinations.”
Mr Rowlands asked the First Minister, Eluned Morgan did she have any real understanding of the pressures that these small businesses are facing.
The First Minister said they were committed to the tourism sector.
Mr Rowlands added: “As chair of the Senedd’s Cross-Party Group on Tourism I still remain very concerned over the lack of support for the tourist industry especially in my region as it is one of the biggest employers in North Wales.
“It supports around 46,000 jobs and in normal times generates over £3.5 billion annually to the local economy yet the Labour Welsh Government continue to hamper its growth with its crippling 182 day holiday let regulations, 20 mph default speed limits and the soon to be introduced tourism tax.”
