We now move on to item 5, which is the legislative consent motion on the Farriers (Registration) Bill, and I call on the leader of the house, Jane Hutt, to move the motion.

Motion NDM6269 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales, in accordance with Standing Order 29.6 agrees that provisions in the Farriers (Registration) Bill, in so far as they fall within the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales, should be considered by the UK Parliament.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, for the opportunity to explain the background to this legislative consent motion. I would also like to thank the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee for their scrutiny of the memorandum. I’m pleased to note that the committee has found no reason to object to the Assembly agreeing to the legislative consent motion. The Farriers (Registration) Bill amends the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975. This sets out the statutory responsibility of the Farriers Registration Council, the regulatory body for the farriery profession in Great Britain. There are over 200 registered farriers living in Wales. The council has responsibilities, as set out in the Act, to maintain a register of farriers to determine who is eligible for registration and to make rules about the form and keeping of the register. The council also regulates farriery training. It also undertakes the preliminary investigation of disciplinary cases through its investigating committee, and determines cases through its disciplinary committee.

The current arrangements for the regulation of farriers are now out of date and no longer in line with the regulation of other professions. The amendments proposed in the Bill are intended to update the constitution of the council, and its investigating and disciplinary committees, to make them fit for purpose and to make it easier to make such changes in future. At present, any changes to the council and its committees requires an amendment to the Act, requiring primary legislation. This is inflexible and makes it difficult to ensure that the council and its committees are kept up to date to remain fit for purpose. The Bill will allow future amendments to the governance arrangements for the council and its committees to be made by secondary legislation by the Secretary of State, with the consent of Welsh Ministers and Scottish Ministers.

The purpose of the council is to act in the interests of animal welfare. This falls within the legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales. The council has a single constitution, and there is policy agreement across Great Britain for these changes to be made, which will modernise the regulation of the farriery profession.

Thank you. I call on Huw Irranca-Davies to speak on behalf of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’m delighted to say a few very short words here today. I made the mistake on the committee of acknowledging some familiarity with the Farriers Registration Council, and, for my sins, the Chair graciously said, ‘Well, you can say a few words.’ He’d be more than capable himself. But I only want to touch on a few things.

As we’ve just heard, this is very much a modernisation, and a long-overdue modernisation, of the Farriers Registration Council. The CCERA committee, chaired by Mark Reckless, found no reason to object. We discussed this and found no reason to object. We discussed this legislative consent motion at the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee on 16 March. It does amend the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975, which sets out the statutory responsibility of the registration council, the regulatory body for the farrier profession in Great Britain. And the arrangements, as has been said already, for the regulation of farriers, as set out in that Act, are out of date, so this is a welcome updating and modernisation.

This will allow for the updating of the constitution of the council and, importantly, for its investigating and disciplinary committees, for it have a real relevance to its members and those who come before those committees. They make them fit for purpose and in line with the regulation of other professions that have modernised in this way over the years, and some quite some time before. It will also make it easier to make other changes in future.

So, as I mentioned, amongst it is altering the membership of the statutory investigating committee and the disciplinary committee. So, instead of those being constituted from members of the council, the reverse will apply. Membership must not be members of the council, which has in previous years caused some concern. This is to achieve the necessary separation of powers, ensuring that those who set standards for the profession are not the same as those who investigate and adjudicate upon potential breaches of those standards. And it also does other measures, such as introducing fitness-to-serve requirements for all members of the council and the statutory committees, as is the practice in other regulatory bodies.

So, this has had approval by frankly everybody that it has come in front of—the original Bill moved by Byron Davies in Westminster, the committees that have looked at it, the Welsh Government itself who consulted on it, the Scottish Government who consulted on it, DEFRA itself, and of course the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee here, which looked at it—so there’s no reason not to approve this—and by the CCERA committee. So, it therefore finds everybody’s blessing. It’s no surprise at all. It’s a long-overdue modernisation, and I wish them well in putting these new measures that we bring forward here within this LCM, and within Byron Davies’s Bill, into practice because I think it will be welcomed by those who come in front of the Farriers Registration Council.

Thank you very much. The leader of the house to reply.

Yes, I think I covered many of the points that were raised by Huw Irranca-Davies. I think it is important to recognise that this, the farriers’ regulatory association, is a GB body. There was a consultation on the governance, structure and operation of the Farriers Registration Council and its committees that was conducted by DEFRA in 2013, in conjunction with the Scottish and Welsh Governments. And the consultation and its responses have shown a general agreement on the way forward, which has led to this. Of course, it was a private Member’s Bill, and the principal objective of the Bill is to make those changes to the constitution of the Farriers Registration Council and its committees, and I would hope that we can now provide legislative consent for this Bill and I ask Assembly Members to support the legislative consent motion.

Thank you very much. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.