The Draft Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Domestic Property) (Wales) Order 2022

Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Economy – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 11 May 2022.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 2:42, 11 May 2022

Thank you for the questions and the comments. As you know, this Government was elected by the people of Wales, just over a year ago, and we have an open co-operation agreement we published with Plaid Cymru on a range of sectors, and we're committed to doing what we said we would do within that agreement. We have had a consultation. The original consultation, last autumn, had almost 1,000 responses, and there isn't unanimity in this sector. Part of the challenge, as ever, in making choices is, if you want the unanimous view, you will hardly ever get anything done. We've had to listen to those people who take the view that Janet Finch-Saunders proposed, and those who also say that there's a different level of competition not on the same playing field, for people who have a much smaller range of lets through the year. And so, what we're looking to do is to have an answer to that, and the Minister for Finance and Local Government will confirm the response to the consultation in the coming days and weeks to give clarity to the sector, because for the change to take place on 1 April it's important to give people time to get used to the new criteria. A summary of the responses will also be published and, indeed, the next steps to be taken forward.