Janet Finch-Saunders AM: First Minister, since you changed the criteria for the self-catering industry in terms of the grants applicable, I've been contacted by a lot of people—farmers, letting agencies—where they do have some self-catering units and this is their only income. Some had already received it, of course, prior to you making that new guidance, and so my question is: how can you square this now with those who have no income coming in because of the guidance that's now put in place? Those properties are shut down and they have no income coming in.
First Minister: First of all, Llywydd, to assure the Member that individuals who have already received help will be able to retain the help that they have received; we're not looking to claw it back from them. We have changed the advice to local government about self-catering accommodation because of the representations we received from local authorities in Wales, including her own Conservative-led Conwy, that the system was not operating in the way that made sure that help went to the right people. So, all we are saying is that people who rely on the self-catering letting, where the income they get from that is clearly a significant part of their income, then if they can demonstrate that, local authorities can continue to provide help to them. But we were paying millions of pounds—this is what local authorities said to us—to people for whom self-catering income was a marginal addition to the income they already had; it was at the edge of their income, not central to it.78
We've responded to those representations. We have a set of rules in place that I think allow us to distinguish between people who were relying on this as their main income and their main business, and people for whom it was not that central to their incomes, and will allow us to use that money that otherwise would be going to people of marginal advantage for others who need it much more seriously. Local authorities have discretion, so if local authorities come across cases, then the Member will be able to talk to her local authority, and if they think it is right to exercise that discretion, they are able to do it under the rules we have devised with them.
