Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:31 pm on 27 April 2022.
Thank you very much, Minister, for that response. Llywydd, as the Minister is, I'm sure, already aware, the Welsh Government's proposed changes to raise the occupancy criteria to be classed as a business by 160 per cent has caused quite a stir within the tourism industry. At a time when the sector is still recovering from the financial impacts of the pandemic, such a change has caused concern amongst many accommodation providers who are nervous about the current fragility of bookings that they're experiencing and whether they will be able to reach the new threshold. Now, a recent report by the Wales Tourism Alliance, UKHospitality, and the Professional Association of Self Caterers UK has highlighted that the majority of respondents to the Welsh Government's original consultation supported aligning the rules in Wales to those proposed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in England, which is a threshold of 105 days compared to the current threshold of 70. Yet, the Government has decided to pursue a threshold of 182 days, seemingly ignoring the views obtained through the original consultation, with very little reasoning provided to sector representatives as to why this is the case. Minister, why has the Welsh Government decided to pursue proposals that a large proportion of the tourism sector in Wales do not agree with? And will you urgently meet with sector representatives to ensure that any future proposals are fit for purpose? Diolch.