Group 12: Review and reports on the effect of the Act and sunset provision (Amendments 30, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2, 35)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 7:06 pm on 5 December 2018.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Suzy Davies Suzy Davies Conservative 7:06, 5 December 2018

Thank you very much, Llywydd. Amendment 35, we haven't covered it, so diolch i chi'ch dau. Can I just begin by saying that I was very grateful to you, Minister, for engaging with us on the question of the review? I think this was really, really important. I think core to the confidence in any review is this Parliament's ability, though, to help design it—to get answers to the questions that we think will satisfy our constituents' interests as well as providing better legislation, if you like.

I think Janet Finch-Saunders's amendments contain, as she said, an inexhaustive list of sensible and very relevant criteria, which is what I'd expect all Members here to think of as relevant and would expect to be included in any review. Of course, that list can be expanded, but simply reinforces that point that we, as Assembly Members, need to be satisfied that the review is robust enough, rather than just the Welsh Government. So, I hope you'll be open to extensions to, or inclusions in, that list as we go forward.

Now, amendment 35—Janet, very kindly, referred to this Bill as a skeleton Bill. You know my view: that it's got more holes in it than Steptoe's vests, and it's going to need really, really patching up with a list of regulations, which, of course, may or may not be effective for this to function as a statute. I was pleased to see in the Draft Legislation (Wales) Bill that the Counsel General acknowledges the merits of sunset clauses in subordinate legislation, and you, in fact, Minister, as previous Chair of CLAC, acknowledged the merit of sunset clauses in primary legislation, and I agree with you both. So, this duty to review—I think you said, Minister, 'pause and review'—newly introduced to the Bill doesn't include an option to conclude that it's failed on policy intention. And the inclusion of the sunset clause now simply allows for this legislation to be scrapped, if regulations either prove insufficient to perfect the functionality of the Bill or allows it to be scrapped if a review reveals that it's failing to achieve any of its policy intentions and would continue to fail to do so.

Now, I know you've been worried about HMRC, but the easy way to solve that problem is to bring forward the regulations to fill in the holes, because we don't want ineffective law hanging around in our due-to-be-codified system. So, this amendment simply gives this Parliament the right to get rid of it without waiting for Government to make that decision. It is very much—am I allowed to say the word 'backstop', Llywydd, in this Chamber? It's been a great worry at the moment. But that's what I'm looking at it as. [Interruption.] Yes. It's kind of somebody standing behind the wicket to make sure that you do bring forward these regulations, particularly as you're not very keen on the superaffirmative procedure, by which we are to do that. So, I recommend this to Assembly Members.