Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. The United Kingdom has been through a period of momentous constitutional change since the advent of devolution. The changes to the way we are governed have transformed and continue to transform our political and constitutional landscape. As a result of the vote in 2016 to leave the European Union, the UK is also now in the midst of one of the most important and challenging constitutional reforms it has ever faced, with long-lasting implications for the operation and governance of the UK and the individual nations and regions of the UK. This has been the constitutional backdrop to our work on UK and devolved governmental and parliamentary inter-institutional relations.

Our work also drew on the committee’s scrutiny of the Wales Bill and, in particular, the recurring concerns that were voiced about the effectiveness of the relations between the UK and Welsh Governments and how this impacted on the development of the Bill. Our report on UK governance post Brexit, which we published at the start of February, was the culmination of over a year’s work. This work, which started out as 'A stronger voice for Wales', evolved over the course of 2017 and was affected by many events such as the UK general election and the preparations for the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, particularly as a consequence of the controversial European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

Before I delve into our findings, I have many people to thank. First of all, those who gave either written or oral evidence; secondly, a citizens panel, who gave their time freely to assist with our work and who provided an insight into what the public expect from Governments and Parliaments working together for the people they serve; thirdly, an expert panel who helped shape and focus our thinking on the last report; and last but not least, the former Chair of this committee, Huw Irranca-Davies, who led the first nine months of our work.   

So, turning to the report, it makes nine recommendations. We believe that they are necessary to improve our inter-institutional relations and, equally important, to ensure that withdrawal from the EU does not result in unintended constitutional consequences. In reaching our views, we sought to learn lessons and, where we felt appropriate, endorse recommendations contained in other reports in this subject area, including those undertaken by parliamentary committees across the UK. Indeed, many of our observations and themes that emerged during our work reflect and build upon the findings of those committees. We were encouraged by the considerable degree of cross-party consensus that has developed amongst the various constitutional committees on the need for radical constitutional reform and how that could be achieved.

Our first two recommendations focus on strengthening the inter-governmental relations that currently exist through the Joint Ministerial Committee. Our fifth and sixth recommendations focus on the use of a Speakers’ conference to help facilitate the delivery of change. We believe that a Speakers’ conference could be used as a means of reaching agreement on changes to the UK’s inter-institutional relations. These will inevitably need to adapt, not only to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, but also to the changing relationship between the constituent nations of the UK as a result.

We heard numerous examples of how effective interpersonal relationships between Ministers can aid the day-to-day work of Government. However, you cannot always rely on those relationships. So it is imperative, in the interests of good governance, to have formal inter-governmental structures in place that are capable of resolving effectively any breakdown in ministerial relations. Getting the arrangements right is vital to ensure efficiency in the delivery of services where there are mutual interests between Governments, where disputes need to be resolved or, in the case of Wales and England, where there are benefits to working together, for example on cross-border issues. We therefore examined the existing inter-governmental relationships to see whether they are fit for purpose and to assess whether they need to change, particularly to ensure that Wales’s interests are not marginalised in the new constitutional arrangements that emerge in the UK.