Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament
Y Pwyllgor Cyllid | Finance Committee
Bil Llety Ymwelwyr (Cofrestr ac Ardoll) Etc. (Cymru) | Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill
Ymateb gan Cyngor Sir Powys | Evidence from Powys County Council
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
The principles of the bill and the need for legislation to deliver this new Welsh Government policy objective are understood and accepted by Powys County Council. In principle Powys County Council agrees that there would be benefits from having visitors make a financial contribution towards the upkeep of facilities, infrastructure and services that they use and benefit from while visiting Wales. It is Powys County Council’s view that the funds raised through a Visitor Levy, if introduced, should be hypothecated to ensure that reinvestment can be made in appropriate and targeted areas of infrastructure, facilities and services accessed by visitors.
In respect of establishing a mandatory visitor accommodation register across Wales, Powys County Council fully understand the reasons why this is important and is supportive of this component of the Bill. Establishing a register of visitor accommodation in Wales will be beneficial in establishing a level playing field for all operators. From the perspective of the Local Authority, a comprehensive, regularly updated list of all visitor accommodation provides us with better intelligence about the sector and ensures we can reach all providers with key messages.
It is important to Powys County Council that any future implementation of this bill is fair and equal,and does not impose a greater burden on certain categories of either businesses or visitors. The Council echoes the concerns of businesses in Powys who feel that it is lower cost accommodation providers, and visitors with lower disposable income levels that will be disproportionately impacted by this bill, and it is those businesses in particular who will be impacted by any potential reduction in visitor numbers.
The Regulatory Impact Assessment is set out in Part 2 of the Explanatory Memorandum (https://senedd.wales/media/g5ipwvwh/pri-ld16812-em-e.pdf). This includes the Welsh Government’s assessments of the financial and other impacts of the Bill and its implementation.
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
Is funding going to be made available to LA’s to implement the local consultation process which is a mandatory step, estimated at between £5,000 and £30,000. This step is not factored into our LA budget, which is already under severe pressure. There may be LA’s who wish to undertake the local consultation, but the cost of doing so is a barrier. Can these costs be recouped from the levy fees at a later date, albeit this is likely to be 18 months to 2 years later?
Businesses remain confused about the expectations that will be placed on them, and particularly in Powys, when so many of our businesses are small or micro-businesses, and family run operations, this increased administrative burden is concerning, and could definitely be a barrier to the effective implementation of the bill.
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
Yes, the fact that this is a discretionary scheme, and some LA areas may opt into the levy and others opt out, there is a very real unintended consequence of visitors actively choosing not to visit a place based on the LA’s decision to introduce the levy, and the associated extra cost.
Another unintended consequence would be the potential for this bill to impact on other legislation already in place for the tourism accommodation sector. For example the 182 days threshold for Self-Catering businesses could be adversely affected by this bill, if the predicted reduction in visitor numbers results in businesses marginally not achieving the threshold, which many businesses are already finding very difficult to achieve.
The other possible impact is on the VAT threshold for businesses, as the additional levy income may move some businesses into paying VAT, when the additional income created is if fact later going to have to paid out to the Welsh Revenue Authority. Managing cash flow may also be an issue for some of the small and micro-businesses based in Powys.
Another concern for Powys County Council is the impact of the visitor levy on the events sector, which is particularly important to the Powys Economy, are we the host county for several major events, such as the Royal Welsh Show, Hay Literary Festival, Machynlleth Comedy Festival and Greenman Festival. Due to limited bedstock for these very large events, a number of them offer temporary onsite accommodation, camping, glamping etc. and there is a risk that the additional burden of registration and administering the levy will make this unviable to continue.
There are also several smaller businesses who offer accommodation on a temporary basis, for only a week or two every year, to alleviate the pressure on local accommodation, and this is arrangement that has been in place for many years. It is likely that the requirement to be registered and the administrative burden placed on ‘temporary’ visitor accommodation if the levy is introduced will mean that many of these businesses cease to operate, which would have a considerable impact on both the local economy and the event organisers.
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
A wide range of impact assessment have been completed and published, and there is a huge volume of data that has been considered in the creation of this bill. However, numerous components are based on estimates and assumptions, so how accurate the assessments are is open to question.
The powers to make subordinate legislation are set out in Part 1: Chapter 5 of the Explanatory Memorandum (https://senedd.wales/media/g5ipwvwh/pri-ld16812-em-e.pdf).
The Welsh Government has also set out its statement of policy intent for subordinate legislation (https://business.senedd.wales/documents/s155951/Statement%20of%20Policy%20Intent.pdf).
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
The circumstances why the powers to introduce subordinate legislation are necessary are outlined in detail in the bill and are considered to be appropriate.
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Powys County Council remains concerned about the level of confusion for members of the public who are considering a holiday to Wales when the Visitor Levy is discretionary, and some LA areas will opt in and others will opt out.
The most problematic part of the bill is that fact that it is not going to be applied equally across Wales, unless every one of the 22 Local Authorities opts to introduce the bill.
Powys County Council is also concerned that while there are some suggestions in the bill on what any receipts from the levy could be used for by Local Authorities, it is quite vague, possibly intentionally so. However, this puts Local Authorities in a difficult position in trying to navigate this in an open and transparent way. There may be cases where what the Local Authority feels is a priority for its area, is not the same as the views of local businesses for example, and it would be helpful if there was greater clarity on how this would be resolved if local agreement could not be reached on how to spend any Levy receipts.
(We would be grateful if you could keep your answer to around 500 words).
Enforcement provisions are an important requirement to ensure that the registration of accommodation providers and visitor levy and (where introduced) is applied to all equally. The enforcement penalties are clearly set out and proportionate.
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In attracting visitors to Wales, Powys County Council views the fact the children are not exempt from paying the levy a real shame, as this is the case in many other destinations where a levy is already in place.
Likewise, trips that are for educational and wellbeing purposes by schools, outdoor education centres, youth groups such as scouts and Duke of Edinburgh groups, which often use budget accommodation to keep costs as low as possible for disadvantaged groups, to be as inclusive as possible, should also in our view be exempt from paying the levy.