Diolch, Llywydd. We reported on this Bill on 2 February and made 10 recommendations to the Minister. As part of our usual consideration, we looked at the balance between what is on the face of the Bill and what is left to be dealt with through subordinate legislation, and we were satisfied with the balance that had been struck. Specifically, the committee wished to commend the approach taken by Welsh Government in addressing the issue of local government control. It has been a long-standing view of this committee that for a law to be effective, the public must know what is expected of them, and the approach taken to address this issue through primary legislation rather than by regulations provides a welcome level of transparency. We hope the Minister and her colleagues will take a similar approach to future legislation.

So, now turning to the committee's specific observations on the Bill: sections 6 and 8 of the Bill amend the grounds upon which Welsh Ministers can appoint officers or a manager of an RSL to ensure compliance with a requirement imposed by, or under, an enactment. As currently drafted, it is possible that an RSL could be running adequately with an appointed officer or manager still in position. We therefore recommend that the Bill is amended to impose a time limit on any appointments made when the relevant requirement is complied with to the satisfaction of the Welsh Ministers. 

Schedule 2 to the Bill sets out the minor and consequential amendments that will need to be made to other legislation as the consequence of other provisions set out in this Bill. We welcome the Minister's commitment to reviewing all the provisions in the Bill related to the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Act 2018 to ensure consistency with this legislation. We would expect the Minister to undertake this review at the earliest opportunity. For clarity purposes, we also recommend that Schedule 2 to the Bill is amended so that the precise definition of 'notify' is inserted into section 63 of the Housing Act 1996.

In relation to the powers in the Bill to make subordinate legislation, we looked closely at sections 5 and 14. These sections provide the Welsh Ministers with the power to issue directions to RSLs regarding the technical and practical aspects of any notifications issued by the RSLs to the Welsh Ministers in relation to constitutional and structural changes and certain disposals of land. As failure to comply would result in possible enforcement or penalty notice, we recommend that any such direction should be laid before the National Assembly within 14 days of it being given. Given the importance of these directions, and to aid transparency, we believe that this should also be accompanied by a written statement to explain the purpose of the directions.

The Minister will be aware that this committee takes a particular interest in Henry VIII powers, and we monitor the use of these provisions carefully. We therefore welcome section 18(4) of the Bill, which provides that where regulations amend primary legislation, they will be made subject to the affirmative procedure.

Also in relation to section 18, if the regulations, as stated by the Minister in her evidence to us, are to deal solely with consequential powers, we consider that the wording of section 18(1) of the Bill should be amended to provide only for what is needed. Recommendations 8 and 9 of our report seek to address this concern and ensure that the powers provided by the provisions in section 18 lapse once confirmation is received by the ONS that RSLs are reclassified as private non-financial corporations.

In considering Schedule 1 to the Bill, which introduces a new section 7C into the Housing Act 1996 to deal with local authority board membership, we do not see why an RSL must wait two months before removing an appointee from its board once it has been notified which appointees are to be removed. We consider this may cause unnecessary delay and uncertainty; we therefore recommend that the Minister amends section 7C(3) of Schedule 1 to be inserted into the Housing Act 1996 to address this issue.

We were particularly concerned with section 13 of the Bill, which repeals section 81 of the Housing Act 1988, which applies to England and Wales. To the best of our knowledge, section 81 of the Housing Act 1988 still contains references to England. Our report makes two recommendations to the Minister in order to clarify that section 13 of the Bill falls within legislative competence, by clearly stating that section 81 of the Housing Act 1988 is only repealed in relation to Wales.

In closing, there are a few comments I would like to make in respect of consolidating legislation in this area. We note the time constraints for producing this legislation and the clear need to satisfy the ONS. However, our assumption is that the Welsh Government had knowledge of the relevant issue to be addressed in 2015. Given the UK Government, acting for England, became aware of this issue at that time, this is highlighted in the Welsh Government's own consultation paper on the regulatory reform of registered social landlords. We have also noted the possibility of a potential extension of the derogation from HM Treasury, as referred to in evidence to the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee's sub-committee. I therefore invite the Minister to fully explain the reasons for introducing a Bill that amends existing UK legislation, rather than one that is consolidated and free-standing.