Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government – in the Senedd at 1:40 pm on 22 March 2023.

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Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 1:40, 22 March 2023

The Welsh Government has tried to set out a position where we recognise the pressures on businesses, but also believe that the owners of properties should be making a reasonable contribution to the communities in which those properties are situated. We have recognised that some self-catering properties are restricted by planning conditions, preventing permanent occupation as somebody's main residence, and, in the regulations, which we laid on 6 March and which come into force on 1 April 2023, we recognise that in terms of the letting criteria and the maximum council tax premium. It is important, though, that where statutory exemptions are clearly definable in legislation and would be appropriate in all circumstances where they apply, that we use that as the format and the basis for taking our decisions, because planning conditions, I think, do satisfy those requirements as being clear and permanent and having their own legislative basis, and, where they apply, they apply in a consistent way. So that, I think, is an appropriate basis upon which to take decisions. I know that colleagues have provided a long list of other potential areas for exemptions, and we have looked at all of those in detail, but the regulations as laid, I think, set out a reasonable approach to move forward.