Shav Taj MS meets with the Fed’s Welsh President in Cardiff

(The Fed’s Welsh President, Mark Dudden, welcomes Shav Taj – who was elected MS for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf in May – to Albany Road Post Office). 

The Fed’s Welsh President, Mark Dudden, met with his new Labour party Senedd Member, Shav Taj, at his business on Albany Road in Cardiff on Thursday 4 August, where they discussed some of the continued opportunities and challenges facing small shops in Wales.

The meeting followed a series of visits Mr Dudden held earlier in the year ahead of the May election, including with Ms Taj’s predecessor as Labour MS for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, Jenny Rathbone, in January.

During the meeting Mr Dudden and Ms Taj talked about the continued uncertainty over the adoption of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for recycling, following the decision by the new Welsh Government not to appoint a Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) to manage DRS in Wales and the continued apparent push to include glass in the scheme, following the formation of the new Plaid Cymru Government after May’s election.Mr Dudden explained that the Fed has backed DRS – because of the beneficial environmental impact and because it could help boost footfall and bring shoppers into independent shops like his – but felt that it was necessary it was properly aligned with the rest of the UK and was not over-engineered so it could move forward quickly.

During the meeting, Mr Dudden also spoke about the Fed’s work to encourage the Cardiff and Westminster Governments to tackle retail crime and he spoke about occasional incidents of theft at his business. He also spoke about the need the Fed had identified for greater resourcing for local authority trading standards to tackle rogue trade in tobacco and other goods on the high street in Wales and across the UK.

Finally, Mr Dudden spoke about the tax and commercial cost pressures facing small shops and the need for business rates to be reformed to help lessen the impact. The Fed’s recently written to the new Labour Prime Minister the Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP about his pledge to reform rates in Westminster, but Mr Dudden explained the need for the devolved Welsh government to act further to reduce costs further in Cardiff, as it is a devolved responsibility.

Mr Dudden said: “This was a really very positive meeting and I would like to thank Shav and her team for her interest. We agreed that we would work together in the future and we look forward to speaking again at the Senedd in the autumn after recess.”

Ms Taj said: “I would like to thank Mark for his insights and the very positive meeting we had. I look forward to visiting the shop again soon and speaking with him about the experiences faced by him and other Welsh retailers.”