Diolch, Llywydd, and I'm grateful to those Members who have participated in today's debate. I'll just begin by responding to the points made on behalf of the LJC committee, and it is of course the case that the report identified two merits scrutiny points under Standing Order 21.3, and namely that is of political or legal importance, or gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the Senedd. And, of course, in our response, we did state that we were satisfied the regulations are compatible with convention rights, and provided an explanation as to why option 2 of the RIA was pursued rather than option 1, and the committee did then go on to accept the Welsh Government's response, following advice from the Senedd lawyer, and confirmed that they were satisfied with the response. But I will give some reflection to the points raised on behalf of the LJC committee, both by Rhys ab Owen and also by Peter Fox this afternoon.

These regulations will give more flexibility to local authorities, and they can provide more support to local communities in addressing what are genuine negative impacts that second homes and long-term equity properties can have, and this is one of the levers that we have available to us to create a fairer system. And, as Llyr Gruffydd was saying, this is one tool amongst many. And, of course, it's imperative that we do use the tools that are available to us, and I think that Llyr Gruffydd and Mabon ap Gwynfor really set out why this is important that we do address this issue.

One of the other tools that we will have available to us is the matter of the thresholds for holiday lets. However, that's not what we are debating this afternoon. So, James Evans and Mark Isherwood will have their opportunity to contribute on those regulations in due course. There's currently a technical consultation open for response, so I'm sure that they'll take the opportunity to respond to that technical consultation, which is ongoing currently.

We will obviously continue to make every effort to increase the supply and the affordability of homes, and we've shown that commitment in the £1 billion of funding to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes, which was included in our final budget, approved on 8 March. And we're also taking important action to address the issue of empty homes, because we do recognise, of course, that empty dwellings, and particularly those that have been empty for long periods, can present real problems for local communities. We've taken a whole-system approach, backed by significant investment, to tackle these issues. In this financial year alone, we've made £11 million available to local authorities whose communities are affected by second home ownership and holiday lets, so that they can buy and renovate those empty homes for social housing. That's a really important intervention. And, in addition, we're recently received funding applications from Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire local authorities, seeking assistance with empty home purchases and renovations, and those applications are totalling more than £13.5 million.

Of course, local authorities can use the revenues raised from premiums to tackle issues affecting the local supply of affordable housing, including bringing empty homes back into use. A number of local authorities have already used the premium—to date, 11 of them have—to address the issues of long-term empty homes or second homes or both. Gwynedd and Swansea have set the premium at the current maximum, which is 100 per cent on homes, and that was from 1 April 2021. Pembrokeshire will do so from 1 April 2022, and the Isle of Anglesey, Gwynedd, Pembrokeshire and Swansea have also set a 100 per cent premium on long-term empty dwellings. So, there's clearly an appetite here on the part of local authorities to engage with the new tool that we're providing them with, and they'll do so having consulted locally and having taken that decision within their councils at the time that is right for them, and set the level at the point that is right for them, and that's what these regulations today will enable them to do.

So, finally, as I outlined in my statement on council tax reform in December, it is our ambition that reforms to council tax are designed to ensure contributions from households are made as fairly as possible—dare I say, Llywydd, the socialist way—whilst also maintaining its role as a significant revenue stream, which, of course, helps to fund vital public services across Wales. Of course, I will continue to keep Members informed of developments. Diolch.