Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:28 pm on 25 April 2018.
Llywydd, thank you. First of all, can I provide the Member with an assurance that an LCM will be brought forward between Report and Third Reading Stages in the House of Lords? He's right to say that the 'not normally' obligation on the UK Government is balanced by the 'not unreasonably withheld' obligation on the devolved administrations.
Let me deal with what he said on the sunset clause. Let's be clear that the first two-year period will be covered by the transition agreement that the UK Government has now agreed with the European Union, So, for that period of time, we are all committed to the existing rule book and existing arrangements being in place. I said in my earlier answer to Neil Hamilton that the five years that would follow thereafter is a long stop, and let's remember that the original clause 11 had no long stop at all. Those powers could have indefinitely been retained at Westminster, and securing a sunset clause, I can tell you, has required weeks and weeks of argument between our Government and the Scottish Government on the one hand, and the UK Government on the other. And it is a very significant step forward on the part of the UK Government that they have been prepared to insert that backstop into the legislation. I think we will be over and done with on all of this well before we reach that time.
I echo what David Rees said about the work of officials in this area. Officials of the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the UK Government have worked tirelessly, particularly over the last two months, to secure the position that we have arrived at today. They deserve the thanks of all Members of this Assembly.
David Rees referred to the progress reports that are identified in the agreement. I said to Mark Isherwood that I think they will be produced every three months and they will be made available to this Assembly. David Rees, as Chair of a major committee of the Assembly, quite rightly points to the need to flesh out the detail now of how scrutiny of this agreement will be carried out by the National Assembly. I'm absolutely happy to commit on behalf of the Government that we will want to talk with the committees that will discharge those responsibilities about the best ways in which that can be carried out.
It would, Llywydd, have been premature, I believe, for me to have agreed anything with the Scottish and UK Governments on the actions that lie with the parliamentary side of this institution without first having had an opportunity to talk to those who are responsible for discharging those scrutiny responsibilities. We have provided, I believe, in this agreement the raw material that guarantees that those scrutiny opportunities will be available to the National Assembly. Now we need to work with you to make sure that the practical ways in which that is discharged here are ones that meet the requirements of committees and allow the Government to discharge its responsibilities too.