, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Okay, thank you very much. And seeing as we’ve talked about data quite a bit in this session, what data do you think should be collected to effectively monitor and evaluate the implementation of the levy across Wales, and what did you learn regarding the…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Okay, thank you for that. I’ll just move on to the last couple of questions, then. I’m just a little bit conscious of time, but maybe if I come to Rhys first with the next one, and if there’s anything further he wants to comment on that—. You noted that the…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Of course, yes.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you for that. I’ll move on. We’ve got, hopefully, just over five minutes left, and I’ve got, probably, three more questions, so brevity might be good. You noted that in most jurisdictions the assessment of the impact of the projects funded post spending…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Mike—. Sorry, Rhys.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Linda. There we are.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Diolch. Thank you. I'll bring Mike Hedges in at that point, so—. There we are. Mike.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
[Inaudible.]—and I'll bring Mike in, then. What about educational visits? So, an overnight stay, similar to what Sam was suggesting there, with the Scouts, potentially, or the—. I can think of others, like the Urdd, where there are school visits, and that…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Yes, one more and then we'll go to Mike, then.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Yes, anything further to add to that, Linda?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Who wants to start? Linda, do you want to come in on that to start?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you very much. Sam, do you want to take some questions?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you very much. Linda, I'll bring you back on that question and the one before, and then I'll come over to Sam for some further questions. Linda, did you want to comment?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
In the legislation, though, there is a part that says what the money can be used for and a way of reporting that through, so does that not go far enough, in your view?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you for that. You touched on it earlier; in your response you said that local authorities could use the new revenue stream to fund existing spending on tourism-specific public goods and the mitigation of external costs to tourism, while diverting…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Linda, would you concur with that? Or have you seen it done differently in other parts of the world? What are your thoughts on that side of things?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
So, would you—? I'll come to you for your thoughts now, in a second, Linda. But would you, then, advocate that it should be more granular, for example, in Gwynedd, it should be more on a ward level, rather than a local authority level, or how would you—? The…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Yes.
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
I understand that, I'm a big fan of data and making data-informed decisions, and, obviously, that should help in managing resources better as well. You said that rates should be set at a destination level and that revenue should be managed at a subsidiary…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Yes, that's great, thank you. Anything to add to that in a—?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Thank you. In your consultation response, you talked about the registration of visitor accommodation, that it would improve the data collected on the sector in Wales, and substantially improve that data collection related to tourism in particular. Maybe this…
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
There we are. Sam, did you want to come in?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
So, do you think the Government may have missed a trick in not legislating, or is it more of the practical view that this is the easiest way to bring this levy into place?
, Finance Committee
Visitor Accommodation (Register and Levy) Etc. (Wales) Bill: Evidence session 2
Linda, would you like to add anything to that, or some initial thoughts from yourself?
