Local Government and Housing Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill

Following on from the evidence given by Suzy Davies, Chair of the WTA and other witnesses the Local Government and Housing Committee’s Stage 1 report on the Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill has been released. The Bill is currently at Stage 1, (an explanation of the various stages of Senedd Bills is available in the Guide to the Stages of Public Bills and Acts). On 20 February 2024, the Business Committee agreed to (PDF 47KB) extend the deadline for Stage 2 proceedings to 14 June 2024.

 In brief the Bill proposes in respect of the non-domestic rates system:

• increasing the frequency of revaluations to three-yearly, and a power for the Welsh Ministers to amend the revaluation year and interval between revaluation years through regulations;
• conferring regulation-making powers on the Welsh Ministers to confer, vary or withdraw reliefs;
• strengthening the eligibility conditions for charitable relief for unoccupied hereditaments;
• expanding the definition of a new building for the purpose of the serving of completion notices by local authorities;
• removing a timing restriction on the awarding and varying of discretionary relief by local authorities;
• conferring regulation-making powers on the Welsh Ministers to confer, vary or withdraw exemptions;
• conferring a regulation-making power on the Welsh Ministers to set differential multipliers based on the description, rateable value or location of a hereditament on the local list, or the rateable value of a hereditament on the central list;
• placing a duty on ratepayers to provide certain types of information to the Valuation Office Agency, and making provision for the associated compliance regime; and
• making provision about counteracting advantages arising from artificial avoidance arrangements.

Full details as to the passage of the Bill and the report can be found on the pages here:

https://business.senedd.wales/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=42241&optionId=0