Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm very pleased to open this debate, the debate on the president of the Welsh Tribunals annual report for 2020 to 2021. This is the third annual report by Sir Wyn Williams during his period as president. Before I discuss the report further, I'm sure that Members will want to join me in thanking Sir Wyn, thanking him for his commitment and dedication at all times in...
Mick Antoniw: The past year has seen the Welsh Tribunals continue to respond to the very significant challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The president gave evidence to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee on 1 November and advised that all cases brought forward in 2020-21 had been dealt with by the Welsh Tribunals. And it is to the credit of the president, judicial leads, tribunal...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. Can I thank all the speakers who've contributed to this debate at the end of this long day? Can I also just reiterate the comments of support and recognition of the work of Sir Wyn Williams? I suspect he may well be listening in, so I hope he doesn't think that some of these comments are more in light of an obituary, because I can assure you that he is alive and...
Mick Antoniw: Safeguarding our communities remains the Welsh Government’s top priority and we will continue to discharge our devolved responsibilities to do so. We have commissioned the Law Commission to review the legislation, and we will look to bring forward new legislation to allow us to manage disused coal tips in Wales.
Mick Antoniw: I met recently with Sir Christopher Bellamy QC who is leading this independent review and I understand that it remains on schedule to be finalised this year.
Mick Antoniw: Our union of four nations is under pressure like never before and there is an urgent need for reform. The time is right for a serious national conversation, one that will help shape a more sustainable future for the people of Wales.
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for your question. The Welsh Government has committed to piloting a basic income scheme for care leavers in Wales. The pilot will help to inform any future decisions of the Welsh Government, including whether to bring legislation before the Senedd.
Mick Antoniw: Well, firstly, can I thank the Member for the work he's doing to keep this very important policy initiative on all our radars and in the attention of Welsh Government? And it is certainly met with, I think, a very positive response. You'll be aware, of course, the First Minister's—the statement that he made some while back when he said: 'As far as universal basic income is concerned, what...
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Member for his question. I think he's wrong: I don't think it is about the devolution of powers; it's actually about the devolution of powers with the resources to go along with that, because we have had our fingers burnt many times, where things have been devolved to us, sometimes without our support, but we have not had the full devolution of the finances that are necessary for...
Mick Antoniw: Well, listen, thank you for your comments and I agree with all the various points you made, and, of course, one of the key challenges is what actually a universal basic income is and what we mean by it. And what it is as a policy is an opportunity, isn't it, to reappraise how the welfare state has operated, and operated very successfully until more recent decades. But it is a way of looking...
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Member for his second question. [Laughter.] Law firms and the bar in Wales offer a range of public law advice, and current initiatives being taken forward should support access to such advice. This includes looking at how the public sector commissions legal services, and of course the recent launch of the Law Council of Wales.
Mick Antoniw: Well, it is a very important question and it's one that I'm hoping will be very much addressed by the Law Council of Wales. And we also must recognise the economic importance, as well as the social importance, of the legal sector within Wales. And I've often seen, for example, judicial reviews on Welsh matters that are being pursued from English firms. And I do sometimes raise the question as...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for the question. And it is the case that, obviously, we continue to pursue the issues around the devolution of justice—I won't go into that in detail, we've rehearsed those many times. But there are also many other areas that were identified in the Thomas commission report, which have resulted, and are continuing to result, in engagement with the UK Government and with the...
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for that. And, obviously, the probation service has been through an incredibly difficult time, and again is an area where there is work that is under way in looking at the way in which it could be better co-ordinated with the various integrated services within Wales. And, obviously, this is an area that I think is primed for devolution. It fits very naturally within the host of...
Mick Antoniw: Well, I thank you again for that comment, and of course the reference to the points that were raised by Sir Wyn Williams in his third report. And you do indeed make the case for the devolution of justice very, very strongly, and I endorse that. I think the issues around the tribunals, the organisation of the tribunals, and the decisions of the tribunals are going to be a matter for what I...
Mick Antoniw: Well, thank you for that question. I suppose just one caveat to start with is that you have to take very cautiously and carefully the comments of Mr Michael Gove, because he also said in that same statement that Mark Drakeford was one of his best friends [Laughter.]—and that immediately caused some suspicion to me. When he says that the benefit of having two Governments—. I suppose, with...
Mick Antoniw: Well, thank you. You raise a whole series of points that have always been part of the discussion about what was a very innovative piece of legislation. I think I was involved in the committee that actually scrutinised the legislation that went through. And it was very innovative, and I think it still is very innovative, and I think it is also very significant in terms of the culture change...
Mick Antoniw: Can I thank him for the comments? They do raise very serious issues in terms of the legislation, the way in which legislation is dealt with and, I suppose, the course we've been on for, really, 10 years as we've learnt to become what I think is an effective legislature. There are many areas, of course, where we would like to legislate and we have to look at the priority in terms of the...
Mick Antoniw: I thank the Member for raising this issue, and for the question. I issued written statements on 29 July and 9 November about our programme of electoral reform. We will use the local government elections next May to test different ways of voting and ensure elections in Wales are as accessible as possible and that everyone who wants to vote can vote, and that their vote will be counted.
Mick Antoniw: Thank you for those comments, and I think it's fair to say also that—I think the Member referred to the initiatives under way, the pilots—they've been received with incredible popularity. I think the comments are positive comments, with people saying, 'Yes, these are sensible ideas', and they are. They are only pilots—they're there to test the way, I think, for electoral legislation...
