Mark Drakeford: Well, I thank Huw Irranca-Davies, Llywydd, and given that he has mentioned the Historic Environment (Wales) Bill, and the only person so far, maybe I should just say something about the significance of that Bill. It is the first consolidation Bill of its sort to come in front of the Senedd. It will do a really important piece of work in making legislation here in Wales accessible to the...
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, I share the anxieties that Rhys ab Owen has expressed. We have faced, since December 2019, a very different UK Government to any that we have seen in the devolution period. Until 2018 the Sewel convention had never been used once to override the will of the Senedd, and I think we've now seen it five times in the last couple of years. Now, this tells us that something very...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I can give the Chamber an assurance that there will be an environmental governance Bill brought in front of the Senedd during this term. We have temporary arrangements in place, and the account I have is that they are working satisfactorily as an interim measure, but we're committed to a Bill on environmental governance. It won't be in the second year of the programme, but it will be...
Mark Drakeford: Thank you to Jenny Rathbone. I tried in my statement, Llywydd, to put more emphasis this year than in earlier statements on the significance of secondary legislation and the workload that that creates here in the Senedd; it is huge. We put a lot of our energy into passing primary legislation. I think of the local government Bill that my colleague Julie James took through the Senedd in the...
Mark Drakeford: I thank Adam Price for those comments. I do agree, of course, with what he said about the challenging context. I talked about COVID and Brexit, but it is true what the Plaid Cymru leader said about the context in respect of the current UK Government. I don't agree with him and Plaid Cymru about the point of principle that he raised regarding opposing LCMs. When things appear before the House...
Mark Drakeford: For 2026; I beg your pardon.
Mark Drakeford: That would be retrospective. We're not in favour of retrospective legislation, as you know. [Laughter.] For 2026, and it will establish a boundary commission for Wales, which will be able to review those boundaries in the next Senedd term and fix them then for elections beyond the next one. When the proposals come forward, there will be a solution to make sure that we can pursue our ambitions...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, can I thank the leader of the opposition for the constructive way in which he has engaged with the statement this afternoon, and for his offers of further constructive engagement on a number of the Bills that we'll bring in front of the Senedd? He was right to point out a gap in my statement, because I didn't refer, I realise now, to backbench legislation and, indeed, committee...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, there's a packed legislative agenda ahead of us, but these are the significant building blocks towards the Wales we want to see. To deliver it, we will continue to work across the Chamber to ensure our legislation is the best it can be and improves the lives of all the people of Wales. This statement demonstrates our commitment to a fairer, greener and stronger future, and I commend...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, the annual legislative programme statement has been typically used to announce the Bills that the Government will introduce in the coming 12 months. However, the Senedd scrutinises legislation in a continuum, and Bills do not fall at the end of a session. Therefore, I want to look a little further ahead to the start of the third year of the programme and to mention a number of other...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, as I mentioned earlier, the challenges for both the Executive and the legislature in managing the legislative pressures associated with primary and secondary legislation initiated here, as well as legislation initiated in Westminster, are considerable. To ensure that this Senedd is able to execute its responsibilities and ensure that we have greater capacity to scrutinise...
Mark Drakeford: As an early priority, Llywydd, we will bring forward a Bill to ban or restrict the sale of some of the most commonly littered single-use plastics in Wales. This will meet our key programme for government commitment in this area. But, in addition, the Bill will also support our ongoing legal challenge to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. In the current litigation, brought by the...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, I now turn to those Bills to be brought forward in the coming year. This Government is committed to creating a fairer, greener and stronger Wales. The establishment of a climate change portfolio was designed to make it easier to mobilise the main areas of devolved Government with the greatest impact in this area. There is a moral imperative that we make progress on this agenda, and...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, despite these many other legislative pressures and the challenging context during the first year of this Senedd term, we have already introduced four primary Bills to the floor of the Senedd. The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Bill was passed by Members last week and will put a new system in place for post-16 education and training in Wales. Members will consider Stage 3...
Mark Drakeford: Llywydd, we also cannot ignore the legislative intentions of the UK Government, which, in the current climate, represent a significant risk to Wales and to devolution. The Secretary of State for Wales has said that 27 UK Bills announced in the Queen's Speech in May are likely to extend and apply to Wales. It is already clear that many of these will contain provisions relating to devolved...
Mark Drakeford: Since early February 2020, Llywydd, more than 300 items of subordinate legislation have been made in relation to coronavirus alone, often with fundamental impact on the daily lives of our fellow citizens. The current surge in COVID numbers, as we've discussed this afternoon, reminds us that this journey is still not over. And, Llywydd, while the volume of EU exit-related secondary legislation...
Mark Drakeford: Diolch, Llywydd. Today, I am pleased to make a statement on our legislative programme. This is an essential part of our ambitious and radical programme for government that will help to shape Wales for the future. We're now in the third Senedd term since the people of Wales voted to give the then National Assembly the power to make Assembly Acts. Since 2011, we have been building up to the...
Mark Drakeford: Bringing forward the primary legislative programme does not take place in a vacuum. Other pressures exist that have an impact on the Government and the Senedd. A significant programme of subordinate legislation sits alongside and underpins our legislative programme. Very often, there is a lack of understanding about how broad and important subordinate legislation is. In recent years, there...
Mark Drakeford: Happy to stop there. [Laughter.]
Mark Drakeford: Well, Llywydd, you don't have a consultation exercise in which 1,300 consultation responses are received without hearing from all sorts of individuals and groups with a very wide range of experiences and a very wide range of views on this topic. I don't think I can do any better than simply to repeat what the Deputy Minister said when she made her statement. The view of the Welsh Government...
