To meet the Welsh Government’s commitment to improve the appeals process and provide greater transparency, they plan to make the following changes:

• Clearly define the operational responsibilities of each organisation, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and the Valuation Tribunal for Wales (VTW), to improve taxpayers’ understanding of who does what and when.
• Enable the VOA to provide taxpayers with their own property data and any available evidence used to arrive at their banding earlier in the process, thus improving transparency and allowing people to make informed choices as early as possible.
• Ensure the VOA and the VTW clearly set out the choices and next steps in correspondence with the taxpayer and provide an option for taxpayers to withdraw after reviewing property data and evidence provided.
• Remove the automatic referral of an unresolved proposal to the VTW, allowing autonomy for taxpayers to decide how far into the process they wish to go.

The paper can be found at https://www.gov.wales/proposed-changes-council-tax-proposals-and-appeals-system

The closing date for comments is 3 April 2025.

In November 2023 the Department of Finance consulted on seven rates proposals: four in the non-domestic sector and three in the domestic sector.

The consultation process was advertised in the local press and attracted a significant amount of coverage in local and national media, and social media; it launched on 7 November 2023 and the associated summary consultation report was published on 10 September 2024.

This supplementary consultation now builds on that process and the feedback provided to the Department.

The two Domestic proposals being looked at by the Department in this supplementary consultation are:

1. Increasing the maximum capital value cap (“the cap” or “max cap”) within the domestic rating system from £400,000 to £485,000
2. Reduction in the Early Payment Discount from 4% to 2%.

The consultation could be found at https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/consultations/supplementary-consultation-domestic-rating-measures

Closing date for responses is 25 April 2025.

The Scottish Government would like to invite you to respond to this consultation on a local authority General Power of Competence.

They are pleased to be taking forward this work as part of their commitment to joint partnership working with COSLA and Local Government and would like to ask for your views and perspectives on potential legislative changes to enable local authorities to more effectively deliver public services.

A General Power of Competence is commonly defined as a statutory power to do “anything that individuals may generally do”, and is currently available to local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

A number of representations have been made to the Scottish Government seeking the introduction of a similar General Power of Competence for local authorities in Scotland. 

However, despite the existence of a General Power of Competence in England, Wales and Northern Island, many local authorities continue to be reluctant to use that power to explore activity beyond those functions explicitly set out in statute, due to concerns as to potential legal challenge and interpretations by the courts of the limitations of the scope of this power.

This consultation therefore seeks to establish what functions, beyond those already conferred by statute, local authorities in Scotland may wish to pursue and whether new legislation or amendments to existing legislation would be required to deliver those additional functions.

This consultation also seeks to explore how best to deliver a level of confidence and assurance to local authorities to ensure that any further powers are utilised effectively. 

Responses are sought, in relation to both existing legislative powers in Scotland and the wider legislative powers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, on the barriers to using such power, the concerns and perceived risks and potential conflict with other legislative provisions.

Views are also sought on how best to ensure that legislation contains the right balance of flexibility and control to mitigate risks arising from any greater statutory freedoms.

The consultation can be found here.

The consultation closes on 28 March 2025.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced its intention to introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties from 2026-27 to level the playing field for the high-street. 

This paper sets out the government’s priority areas of reform to achieve the remaining objectives. The paper includes the following chapters:

• Chapter 1 explains why the government believes the business rates system needs to be reformed.
• Chapter 2 details the immediate actions taken by the government in Autumn Budget 2024 to protect the high street.
• Chapter 3 sets out the government’s areas of interest for further reform.
• Chapter 4 sets out the government’s next steps and how stakeholders can participate.

The government is interested in receiving representations from all interested parties and stakeholders on the priority areas set out in chapter 3. They are especially interested in receiving representations from businesses and their representatives, local authorities, and rating agents.

They will be conducting engagement between November 2024 and March 2025, with an initial phase of engagement before Christmas.

Written submissions on the priority areas set out, are to be received no later than March 2025, via transformingbusinessrates@hmtreasury.gov.uk.  

The paper can be found here: Transforming business rates - GOV.UK 

The Law Commission is reviewing outdated compulsory purchase laws to support a faster, simpler and more modern land acquisition process.

They have published a consultation paper on compulsory purchase as part of a review of the law on compulsory purchase and compensation. They are seeking views from anyone with an interest in or awareness of this area of law. The consultation is open until 31 March 2025.

The full consultation paper available, as well as a summary of the consultation paper, and a Welsh version of the summary. Responses can be provided using the online form. If you need any of the documents in an alternative format, please email them at: compulsorypurchase@lawcommission.gov.uk.

This consultation seeks views on the implementation of measures in the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. It focuses on the detail of a licensing regime and National Supported Housing Standards and includes content on Housing Benefit.

The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act, which secured Royal Assent on 29 June 2023, gives the Secretary of State powers to introduce a licensing regime for supported housing, and the power to set National Supported Housing Standards for England. It places a duty on local housing authorities to produce supported housing strategies to understand current availability and future need for supported housing.

This consultation seeks views on how government will implement the measures and inform the drafting of regulations and accompanying guidance. It will also inform work by the Department for Work and Pensions on linking licensing to entitlement to claim Housing Benefit in England and any opportunities to link to existing frameworks in Scotland and Wales. It also includes work to define care, support and supervision in Housing Benefit regulations for Great Britain. 

The consultation can be found here. 

The deadline for responses is 15 May 2025.

This consultation seeks views on the Scottish Government’s proposed approach to mitigate the two-child cap policy applied by the UK Government. The two-child cap restricts support through Universal Credit (UC) to the first two children in a family except in some limited circumstances. The consultation paper sets out more fully the proposed approach which intends to deliver mitigation payments at pace and in line with the Scottish social security principles.

The Scottish Government is proposing to mitigate the two-child cap in Scotland by making a flat-rate payment equal to the UC child element for each third and subsequent child in Scotland.

Mitigation of the two-child cap is not a straightforward task. It will require significant policy and technical work to develop and implement an appropriate solution. This includes co-operation from the UK Government around systems development, data sharing and legislation. The technical delivery of the mitigation must carefully consider risks, issues and dependencies such as data sharing with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The Social Security Programme has commenced the ‘discovery’ phase of the project, which will impact delivery options, including joint work with DWP to agree, build and test additional data sharing functions and create a joint delivery plan.

The responses to this consultation, alongside the outputs of that discovery process, will inform the Scottish Government’s approach to drafting the legislation that will be necessary to deliver the payments.

The consultation can be found here: https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/mitigation-of-the-two-child-cap-consultation/

Closing date for responses is 18 April 2025.

In 2024 the Scottish Parliament passed the now Visitor Levy (Scotland) Act, which for the first time gave local authorities the power to introduce a visitor levy on overnight accommodation in their area. As the Act was being considered by Parliament, calls were made for a similar levy power to be given to local authorities in relation to cruise ship passengers.

The Scottish Government has therefore committed to exploring such a levy, and this consultation is the latest part of that work. They have already held roundtable events to hear the views of the cruise ship industry, local government, and others. They want to continue the helpful dialogue begun at those events, and explore further what a cruise ship levy could mean in a Scottish context.

They want to hear from those with views and knowledge in this area, including local authorities, those involved with the cruise ship sector, ports, island communities, those involved with tourism and others, including businesses large and small.

The consultation could be found at https://consult.gov.scot/local-government-and-communities/cruise-ship-levy-scotland/

Closing date for responses is 30 May 2025.