Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you to everybody who has contributed today. Can I thank Sam for introducing the debate? Presiding Officer, we've discussed the Welsh Government's changes to non-domestic rates for self-catering accommodation in detail in this Senedd, as the Minister pointed out. We've heard the concerns of businesses about the impact that the new threshold will have on self-catering accommodation providers and their concerns about how this will impact the viability of their businesses. It is very clear that, on this side of the Chamber, there is still disagreement with this overall approach, and neither do many accommodation providers across the country support this.

However, as Sam has pointed out, the crux of today's debate is about the technical details of the new regulations, specifically regarding the assessment period for determining eligibility in qualifying for business rates in 2022-23. As Sam Rowlands pointed out, the implementation of the Order is unjust and unfair, as Janet supported, and I agree. The Welsh Government should reflect on the real concerns expressed by the self-catering providers. The Minister suggests that he has listened to their concerns. Well, the Welsh Government needs to respond and reflect further on those concerns of that industry.

Mabon thanked Sam for explaining the detail of the motion, and, sadly, had to spend most of his contribution trying to decipher what the motion was trying to say, which was a shame. Janet has been approached by so many people and has been championing this situation, as Sam has, and as others have, for many months. Business owners keep sharing their concerns about the unfairness of this process, and their concerns that there is this anti-visitor approach that keeps resonating in this Chamber when we have this debate. As James supported, it is a shame that we're having to have this debate because people aren't being listened to.

Minister, you may be missing the point of this debate today. We hear how you are supporting the industry and supporting the providers, but it doesn't feel that way to them. The fact is that using the same thresholds from 2021-22 as the basis for establishing business use for 2022-23 is unfair. Using a period in which businesses were closed for such long periods of time due to COVID is inherently wrong. Periods of higher demand in the year, as the Welsh Government has used to justify its choices, do not balance out the fact that the demand was suppressed across the year.

As the Federation of Small Businesses has said, as a result of the responses to the pandemic, businesses in different contexts and locations would have needed to react differently to the pandemic at different times, and this on the basis of their own judgement outside the law. For some contexts, it may have been responsible to keep the letting closed, even if they were legally allowed to be open. It is then wrong that during a pandemic a business owner should be actively punished for acting responsibly. As such, we need to rethink the threshold and to use the threshold from previous years so that it is more fair to businesses and better reflects the usual circumstances that accommodation providers operate within. We need to listen to them to better understand what it is they need rather than impose an arbitrary threshold on them.

In closing, Presiding Officer, I ask Members to support the original motion on the agenda paper before us today.