– in the Senedd at 6:52 pm on 10 March 2026.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
6:52,
10 March 2026
Diolch, Llywydd. As you've said, this group brings together technical amendments throughout the Bill. I'll try to be as brief as I can, while still providing a proper explanation of the purpose and effect of these amendments.
Amendments 2 to 4 provide minor clarifications to the definition of regulated visitor accommodation, and Amendment 20 is consequential to amendment 3. Amendments 6 and 9 ensure the definition of fitness for visitor accommodation applies where a person is offering to provide the accommodation. Amendment 13 removes an unnecessary cross-reference, and amendments 15 and 25 update the licence condition and approval requirements in relation to registration. Amendment 18 provides that regulations about training do not need to make provision about a code of practice if there is no active code, either because it has not yet been produced or because it has been withdrawn.
Amendments 19, 23, 56, 60, 62 to 64 and 84 all update cross-references to the Welsh Ministers' regulatory functions, which are contained in Parts 3, 4 and 5 of the Bill. This was a point raised by the ETRA committee in Stage 1 in respect of the information notice powers, and we have reviewed all the similar references in the Bill as a result to make these clarifications. Amendment 61 updates the Welsh language version of the Bill to ensure it is equivalent to the English version. Amendment 85 is a technical clarification to the requirement to consult on the review of the operation of the Bill.
Finally, Llywydd, and more significantly, amendment 65 narrows the scope of the data-sharing gateway to be inserted in the Tax Collection and Management (Wales) Act 2016, to be clear that the scope only allows the sharing of information that relates to registration, not any other information held by the Welsh Revenue Authority. All of these amendments aim to support the clarity and effective operation of the Bill, and I would therefore ask Members to support them.
Jenny Rathbone
Labour
6:54,
10 March 2026
I'm sure Members will be glad to know that I won't be discussing the miscellaneous amendments, but I think this is the moment to just thank the Cabinet Secretary for including an addition to the explanatory memorandum around items such as waste collection. This is one of the most irritating things for constituents, where rubbish is presented on the wrong day and then it's spread around the streets and people have to put up with it day after day. I agree that it is not the right place to put it on the face of the Bill, but what the explanatory memorandum does at 3.57 and 3.58 is make it absolutely clear that, if you're providing visitor accommodation, it's a business, and therefore you need to be using business waste provision. It also emphasises that the Welsh Government intends to work with local authorities to support enforcement action that is already being undertaken by environmental health or housing enforcement, similar to Rent Smart Wales. I think that's a really useful clarification so that people realise that there are regulations and they need to be adhered to.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:56,
10 March 2026
The Cabinet Secretary to reply.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. There were very useful discussions at Stage 1 in front of the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee about the responsibility of accommodation providers to ensure that those visitors who occupy their premises are aware of practical things like where waste is to be stored, the days it is to be collected and so on. And those discussions were followed up at Stage 2, when I was glad to be able to accept amendments from Luke Fletcher about the way in which nuisance caused by visitors can be responded to as part of this Bill. I was glad of the opportunity to include a reflection of those discussions in the updated explanatory memorandum, Llywydd. And as I said in my opening remarks, there will be a further updated memorandum to reflect the nature of decisions made by the Senedd this afternoon.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:57,
10 March 2026
The question is that Amendment 2 be agreed to. Does any Member object? No. Amendment 2 is agreed.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:57,
10 March 2026
Are there any objections to Amendment 3? There are none. It's therefore agreed.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
6:57,
10 March 2026
Amendment 4.
Mark Drakeford
Labour
6:57,
10 March 2026
Move.
Elin Jones
Plaid Cymru
Are there any objections to Amendment 4? No. It's therefore agreed.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
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It is chaired by the prime minister.
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Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
The language of Wales spoken by around 25% of the population. It is an Indo-European language and belongs to the Celtic group. It was made "offical" in Wales by the Welsh Language Act 1993. It is known in Welsh as Cymraeg.
