The Accessibility of Devolved Legislation

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his law officer responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:21 pm on 5 March 2019.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:21, 5 March 2019

Well, I thank the Member for that supplementary. I hope I can count on her support for each stage of the Legislation (Wales) Bill as it passes through the Assembly because it's partly intended to tackle the sorts of issues—the important issues—that she has highlighted in her supplementary question.

Our devolution settlement is complex. It has a particular impact on how we legislate as a result. Despite 20 years of devolution, much of our legislation—most of it, in fact—is still based on Acts of the UK Parliament—most of our law—and so there's a task to rationalise that. But she identifies a particular supplementary but important issue: having done that, how do you then communicate that to the public? And that is at the heart of what that legislation is intended to achieve. Yes, the consolidation, yes, the codification, but then how is it published online in a way that is current, authoritative, bilingual and easily accessible? Can we organise it in a way that makes it easier to find, not just by the date of the law but by subject matter? We're working on that quite separately, in fact, from the proposals in the Bill. So, I hope, as the Bill comes through the Assembly, we can discuss those issues further.