Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that important supplementary. Let me be very clear at the start: aspects of food supply are devolved, but the question of food crossing the border into the UK is obviously fundamental to supply, and that is entirely the responsibility of the UK Government, and any restrictions on supply will be a matter of the outcome of choices made by the UK Government. Now, I share...
Jeremy Miles: Well, I have no idea what the Attorney-General's view on this is, but what I would say is there are two—. The Member's question is premised on two assumptions that are fundamentally misconceived: firstly, that we should be prepared to tolerate restrictions on food supply, if that is what happens, and an increase in costs, if that is what happens, because of a future long-term benefit. I...
Jeremy Miles: Since its launch in May, the 'Our Future Wales' consultation has been very successful. We received just over 2,000 submissions from stakeholders and members of the public, telling us about what matters to them. Those submissions have informed the priorities for recovery and reconstruction that we published yesterday.
Jeremy Miles: I do think the point the Member makes is very important, because whilst the overall effect of COVID on our lives is obviously very detrimental, we have learnt to do things differently in some ways in the last few months, and we will want to hold onto those ways where they're better ways of proceeding. So, in the economy, for example, we have seen, despite the overwhelming impact on businesses...
Jeremy Miles: The Government's submission to the inquiry will be to highlight to the House of Commons Justice Committee's attention the Commission on Justice in Wales report. The commission described a dire situation, which we are likely to discover will have deteriorated further during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jeremy Miles: Well, the Member makes a series of very important points, and I appreciate the way in which she is raising this extremely sensitive matter. A well-designed legal aid scheme would address the challenges that the Member raises in her question. We are a long way away from that as a consequence of cuts in the budget over the last number of years at a UK Government level. We would wish to be in a...
Jeremy Miles: The UK Government's approach to the negotiations means the manufacturing sector will face significant new barriers to trade in any event, and these will be worse if there is no agreement. The UK Government must prioritise negotiating a deal that protects the economy, including highly regulated manufacturing sectors in Wales.
Jeremy Miles: Well, I echo the Member's concern. Our friends in the steel sector continually make the argument to us, which we accept and agree, that the sort of scenario that she envisages would be very, very detrimental to steel production in Wales and in the UK. I can assure her that the Minister for the economy has an ongoing dialogue with steel producers in Wales, and across the economy actually, in...
Jeremy Miles: There is ongoing engagement with the UK Government to discuss our concerns with the internal market Bill. The Bill as currently drafted has significant legal implications for Wales and represents a fundamental attack on devolution. I am seeking support in the House of Lords for amendments to the Bill.
Jeremy Miles: I take the point that the Member raises in relation to the size of the UK Government's majority in the House of Commons. Notwithstanding that, I would suggest that it would be a wise Government in Westminster that would listen to such broadly based concerns about the pernicious elements in this Bill that extend very significantly more widely than political parties, to civic society at large....
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for raising that very important and novel contribution to the debate on this Bill. He is right to say that this Bill, as well as being an attack on standards that consumers and producers in Wales have been able to rely upon for many, many years, it is also in effect a piece of constitutional legislation in that it does seek to reverse the devolution settlement in a number...
Jeremy Miles: Llywydd, the Member is right to say that this is an attempt to neuter devolution in relation to these areas. Certainly with regard to the common frameworks mechanism, the proposed amendments that we have put forward, which we hope to see tabled in the House of Lords, would put common frameworks where they should be, which is at the very heart of the internal market, and not pushed to the...
Jeremy Miles: Llywydd, the point I've made in my discussions with UK Government Ministers in relation to this is that, if the intention of those provisions is to enable the Governments to work together to level up the prosperity of Wales, then we as a Government will always wish to work together with other Governments, where that is for the benefit of Wales, and we will welcome additional money for Wales....
Jeremy Miles: The Welsh Government is currently taking forward an access reform programme, as set out in the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government’s written statement in April 2019.
Jeremy Miles: I thank the Member for that important question. As she will know, as part of the access reform advisory group work stream, which my colleague has established, there are three expert working groups that represent a range of stakeholders in relation to the management of land, and those groups are, and will continue, examining the legal and financial ramifications of some of the proposals that...
Jeremy Miles: There are already measures in place in Wales, both legislative and non-legislative, which affect the use of second homes. Any further steps would have implications across communities, housing, tourism, the economy, the Welsh Treasury and local government. We must take an evidence-based approach to deciding whether further legislation is required.
Jeremy Miles: Well, may I thank Siân Gwenllian? I don't believe there are enough allusions to the work of such a famous bard here, and so I thank her for reminding us about Cynan's poem there. Of course, questions about changing the planning regime in this field are exceptionally complex; that is, the purpose of the planning legislation is to manage use rather than ownership. In my view, looking at the...
Jeremy Miles: Currently, we are still considering the precise basis of the application to intervene. The Welsh Government’s interest is in the way Welsh and English texts of the law are interpreted by the courts, which is a matter of great importance to Ministers as both have equal status for all purposes.
Jeremy Miles: As regards the principle that the Member outlined in the question—that is, the principle of access and augmenting access to Welsh-medium education—the Welsh Government is completely supportive of that, for reasons, I believe, the Member would accept and agree with. But, from the point of view of the policy, as we are still looking at the legal analysis, I will avoid going into detail on...
Jeremy Miles: The Welsh Government has made, and continues to make, representations to the UK Government on issues relating to the justice system, including, importantly, the devolution of justice to Wales.
