News

Welsh Government Finance Minister Rebecca Evans has  announced a 3 year budget to “support the Wales of today and shape the Wales of tomorrow.”

Supporting the Programme for Government, funding public services, responding to the climate and nature emergency, and building a fairer Wales are measures at the heart of the budget.

Over the next 3 years the Welsh NHS will be supported to provide effective, high quality and sustainable healthcare, and help in its ongoing response to and recovery from the pandemic, with an additional £1.3 billion in direct funding.

Future generations will also benefit from an additional £61 million in the Welsh Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee and employability support, apprenticeship provision, and to expand Personal Learning Accounts.

Additional economic support will be available for businesses with those in retail, leisure and hospitality receiving 50% non-domestic rates relief for 2022-23. This £116 million package of funding, combined with existing permanent relief schemes, will ensure that over 85,000 properties are supported in 2022-23. The funding includes £20m on top of the consequential funding received from the UK Government, and follows the Welsh Government providing business rate support above and beyond the offer from the UK government in this financial year. A further £35 million has been confirmed to freeze the non-domestic rates multiplier for 2022-23, ensuring there will be no increase in the amount of rates businesses are paying.

Read the announcement in full on Gov.Wales.

Further details are available on:

• Draft Budget 2022 to 2023 | GOV.WALES
• Written Statement: Draft Budget 2022-23 (20 December 2021) | GOV.WALES
• Written Statement: Non-Domestic Rates Relief for Businesses in 2022-23 (20 December 2021) | GOV.WALES
• Written Statement: Welsh Devolved Taxes and Welsh Rates of Income Tax - Draft Budget 2022-23 (20 December 2021) | GOV.WALES
• Green investment to tackle climate and nature emergency | GOV.WALES

Please find details of the news rules and advice for Wales from the 26 December:

New rules for Wales from 26 December 2021

We have been advised of a new fund which will open shortly for Micro and SME Businesses for the Purpose of:

• Carbon Reduction Projects
• Digital Installation and Digital Upgrade Projects
• Health & Safety in the Workplace COVID Projects

For Flintshire businesses please visit:

https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Business/Advice-and-guidance/COVID-19-Advice-for-Businesses.aspx

For Denbighshire businesses please visit:

https://www.denbighshire.gov.uk/en/business/business-support/business-development-grant.aspx

The Wales International Inbound Tourism Fund (WIITF)

A targeted revenue fund opens today- Friday 10^th December - designed to ensure that Wales retains and builds on the vital supply chain link with valuable international markets provided by a small sub-sector of Destination Management Companies/incoming operators, professional tourist guides and accredited English language schools located and operating in Wales.  

Awards will be for a minimum of £3,000 (including for sole traders), to a maximum of £50,000 for companies demonstrating typical high turnover.

Awards will be allocated to eligible companies according to an agreed programme of activity against set criteria, considered most likely to promote resilience and economic recovery for tourism in Wales in a sustainable and responsible way.

To register for an application pack you will need to email: InboundTourismFund@gov.wales and confirm you meet all of the following criteria to show that you are potentially an eligible applicant.   Deadline to register for an application pack: Wednesday 22 December at midday.

You may have read that Strategic Research and insight are looking for your opinion on Wales establishing a statutory registration or licencing scheme for holiday accommodation operators in Wales.

Julie Masters would be very interested in hearing your opinion and any questions you wish to raise, regarding the proposed scheme.

If you get in touch by Monday 15/11/21, she will compile a report in order to give a collective voice from Clwydian Range Tourism Group, to send to Strategic Research and insight.

Julie's email address is: julie.stayeatdo@gmail.com

Establishing a statutory registration or licensing scheme for holiday accommodation operators in Wales

Strategic Research & Insight (SRI), an independent Cardiff-based research agency has been commissioned by Welsh Government to interview stakeholders to explore establishing a statutory registration or licensing scheme for holiday accommodation operators in Wales.

SRI will be speaking to stakehoders in Welsh Government, local authorities and trade associations in Wales, as well as researching best practice in other countries, to consider:

• Whether developing a registration scheme or licensing scheme would be appropriate in Wales
• The options for how a scheme would be operated and delivered at national and/or local level
• Resources required for each of the best options
• How a scheme would support wider areas of Welsh Government policy such as housing and taxation
• Whether a scheme should merge or align with the existing Visit Wales grading scheme or follow the Rent Smart Wales model

There are significant potential benefits of the scheme, including a level playing field for professional and amateur accommodation operators, and a much better oversight of the sector to inform decision-making in tourism, housing, environmental health and taxation.  We also recognise there are wider views and considerations that need to be explored.

As it will not be possible for SRI to speak to all tourism businesses as part of this work, please feed any comments you have through your representative body (Clwydian Range Tourism Group); these will help form the decision on whether a scheme is implemented, and if so, how.

If it is not possible for you to contact Julie at CRTG, please email anthony@strategic-research.co.uk with your comments.

The Welsh Government are consulting on the discretionary powers which allow local authorities to levy a higher rate of council tax on:

• second homes
• long-term empty properties.

They are also asking for views and evidence on the criteria used to define a property as self-catering accommodation for local tax purposes.

Click on the link to submit your views online:

https://gov.wales/local-taxes-second-homes-and-self-catering-accommodation