Self-catering Accommodation and Tax

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:56 pm on 29 June 2022.

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Photo of Tom Giffard Tom Giffard Conservative 1:56, 29 June 2022

Minister, you will be aware that my Welsh Conservative colleagues and I have raised on many occasions our opposition to these changes. One of the reasons why is because of the unintended consequences that might come out as a result of it. I've since been in contact with a number of businesses who have raised serious concerns about some of those unintended consequences of the change. So, can I just ask a couple of questions?

So, for example, how will these days actually be calculated? What happens if businesses—and, unfortunately, this does happen—receive last-minute cancellations? Does that still count towards the quota of 182 days? Also, another concern, as it stands, is that refuse collection payments are payable if the business is on business rates, but what happens if this business is forced back onto council tax? Are they then still liable to pay for refuse collections, or will they see a reimbursement of some of that cost?

Finally, I'd be interested to know of what, if any, impact assessment on the number of projected self-catering properties available in Wales once this change fully takes effect, and if you could share those findings with the Senedd, so that we could have a greater understanding of the impact of those changes.