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The current arrangements for the regulation of farriers are now out of date and no longer in line with the regulation of other professions.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.