Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 24 May 2022.
Well, Llywydd, I'll respond to the general point, because I can't be expected to give advice to somebody about their specific circumstances. In general, the position is this: where businesses are businesses, then of course they should be regulated under a business system, and they should take advantage, where they can, of any reliefs from business rates. If you're not letting a property for half of the year, then I don't think you're properly regarded as a business. You can continue to operate, of course you can. Nobody is saying that the business doesn't continue; it's simply that, in those circumstances, you should pay council tax and make that part of your business plan. That, I think, is a fair way for people to proceed. It is a way of distinguishing between businesses that are businesses in the full sense of that term from businesses that, as we have heard, and have heard many times on the floor of this Senedd, arrange their affairs in a way to take advantage of small business rate relief and to deny the contribution to local authority funds that is necessary to support them in their wider operation.