Thank you, Llywydd. Six weeks ago, on 7 March, this Assembly debated the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee’s report on the 'Scrutiny of regulations made under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill'. Our inquiry that preceded that report considered the appropriateness of the scope and nature of delegated powers provided in the Bill to UK and Welsh Ministers, and the procedures that should to be used to scrutinise that delegated legislation. Given the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, the report focused on amendments that we believed should be made to the Bill, and addressed questions that were raised by the Secretary of State for Wales in a letter to the Llywydd on 16 January.

Our report made seven recommendations, four of which recommended amendments to the EU withdrawal Bill. And for that reason, we believed it important and appropriate to seek the National Assembly’s views on those recommendations, and therefore the motion asking the National Assembly to note the committee report also requested that it endorse recommendations 1, 2, 4 and 7. And, on 7 March, that motion was agreed unanimously—there were no objections.

Consequently, on 22 March, the Llywydd wrote to the Secretary of State for Wales drawing his attention to the recommendations within our report, and that he receive the letter as formal notification of the National Assembly for Wales's position on what amendments should be made to the Bill in respect of procedures for the scrutiny of subordinate legislation made under its provision.

Members may not be aware that, subsequent to the events that I have summarised, the Leader of the House and Chief Whip formally responded to the committee’s report. In addition, the First Minister wrote to the Secretary of State for Wales in relation to both our report on the EU withdrawal Bill and the Bill’s sifting committee provisions. In both pieces of correspondence, the Welsh Government reject recommendation 2 of our report—that the recommendation of the sifting committee should be binding, save where the Assembly resolves otherwise.

On 17 April, I wrote to the First Minister to seek clarification on the reasons for the approach the Welsh Government has adopted. In particular, I have asked whether he could explain why, having advised in a letter to the Secretary of State for Wales on 5 February that matters relating to the sifting committee were for the National Assembly to determine, he subsequently wrote to the Secretary of State on 29 March rejecting a recommendation that had been unanimously endorsed by the National Assembly about the operation of that sifting committee. The First Minister has responded to my letter of 17 April this morning, for which I am grateful, and I note the comments that he has made.

I recognise that, during the Plenary debate, the leader of the house told the National Assembly that the Welsh Government was reserving its position on recommendation 2, pending thorough consideration. However, the leader of the house did not seek to amend the motion to reflect that position, which, as previously stated, was then unanimously endorsed by the whole house.

Without prejudicing the will of the Government—or without prejudicing the will of any Government—the National Assembly for Wales should not find itself in the position where it expresses a formal, all-party position that is then subsequently, or very soon after, called into question within correspondence of which the Assembly as a whole is not aware.

I've made clear to the First Minister in my letter to him that, as a committee, we are concerned generally at the transfer of power from legislatures to executives. The approach the Welsh Government has adopted on these matters undermines the prerogative of the legislature. Equally, it confuses the roles of parliaments and governments and makes proceedings here harder to understand for members of the public, to the detriment of devolution.

To make matters worse, the approach of the Welsh Government and the confusion around roles has now regrettably found its way into a UK Government supplementary memorandum on delegated powers in the EU withdrawal Bill. The memorandum was published on Monday this week, and states,

'The Welsh Government, having sought the views of the National Assembly for Wales, has requested the sifting committee procedure should apply where the Welsh Ministers lay negative instruments under their Schedule 2 powers.'

It would therefore appear that the UK Government has been influenced by the views of the Welsh Government rather than the National Assembly in making decisions on the procedures that should apply to the scrutiny of regulations made by the Welsh Ministers. I therefore welcome the letter I received this morning from the Llywydd, indicating that she shares the committee's concerns and will be giving further consideration to this matter.