Monmouthshire County Council has provided £150,000 worth of financial support to 500 high street businesses. The money has been received from the Welsh Government under its 2018/19 High Street Rate Relief Scheme (HSRRS) and the council agreed to accept the funding and the conditions relating to it at a recent cabinet meeting.

The council has identified eligible high street business premises from its records and awarded the relief automatically. If the council is uncertain whether a business premises complies with the necessary criteria, the company will be issued with a formal application so that a decision can be made.

Councillor Phil Murphy, Monmouthshire’s Cabinet Member for Resources said: “These are challenging times for our high streets and these rate relief schemes will potentially go some way towards giving businesses more security and viability.”

Councillor Bob Greenland, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Innovation, Enterprise and Leisure said: “I am acutely aware of the pressure that the latest Welsh Government rate revaluation has put on many of our retail businesses. We lobbied hard to get relief for the most hard pressed and I am pleased that this money will go some way towards achieving that aim.”

Full information about the scheme and guidance for eligible firms is available by visiting: www.monmouthshire.gov.uk/business-rates