Thank you very much, Llywydd. I am very pleased to contribute to this debate to outline the Finance Committee’s recommendations in relation to the financial implications of the Bill. We have made four recommendations, and I hope that the Counsel General will take these on board as the legislation progresses.

The committee considered this Bill back in January, and, at that time, given the uncertainties around Brexit, we were concerned about the timing of this Bill, given that the Welsh Government would have to use a significant amount of its resources to deal with Brexit. This concern remains, of course, given that the deadline for leaving the EU has been extended. However, we do support the aim of the Bill to make Welsh law more accessible, clear and straightforward to use.

We understand that the Bill has been developed following a number of inquiries, including the previous report by the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee ‘Making Laws in Wales’ and the Law Commission’s report ‘Form and Accessibility of the Law Applicable in Wales’, which recommended that the Welsh Government pursue a policy of consolidating and codifying the law in Wales. However, we are concerned that the Welsh Government’s legislative resource is being committed to this Bill at a time when a significant resource will be needed to deal with the consequences of Brexit. Having said that, we recognise the implementation of this Bill will be very beneficial when considering any legislative changes due to Brexit. The Law Commission’s report suggested benefits of £23.75 million could be generated annually. This would result from savings worth £23.56 million because legal practitioners would need to spend less time conducting research, and time-saving benefits of £190,000 tied to improved capacity for non-legal civil society to have legal access. Yet, despite this significant suggested benefit, the Welsh Government did not substantiate this analysis, and it was not applied as part of the Welsh Government’s own benefit analysis within the RIA.

We heard from the Counsel General that although the impact assessment by the Law Commission was used as a starting point, the main driver for the Bill is to improve social justice by ensuring the public can have easier access to Welsh law. We accept that cost savings are not the main driver for the Bill. However, efficiencies in the legal system are explicitly identified as a benefit and a reason for introducing the Bill. As such, recommendation 1 in our report recommends that the Welsh Government undertakes further work on analysing and costing the efficiencies within the Bill, and that it includes this information in a revised RIA.

The committee was pleased to see the Bill included review mechanisms to ensure that the objectives of the legislation are being delivered in line with expectations. We have recommended that consideration should be given to the resource and financial implications of delivering the Bill’s objectives so as to ensure value for money.

The most significant costs associated with the Bill are in relation to Part 1, which makes provision to promote the accessibility of the law that is or could be made by the National Assembly and Welsh Ministers. This includes the ongoing staff costs of legislative counsel and translation services needed to deliver the programme of accessibility, namely more than £588,000 per year and nearly £3 million over five years. The Counsel General has acknowledged this work will impact on other policy staff and lawyers at the Welsh Government and that there may be costs to the private sector in understanding the new law, yet these costs have not been identified in the RIA. Therefore, we have recommended that the Welsh Government provide further information on the financial implications for Welsh Government staff and costs to other private sector bodies in its revised RIA.

Finally, Presiding Officer, only £5,000 has been accounted for transitional costs to provide guidance to professionals on the impact of the Bill. We are concerned that no other activities have been included for raising awareness, and we would have anticipated that wider public engagement would be needed to generate the benefits that the Welsh Government expects. We believe that this is especially pertinent at a time when legal aid is being cut and there may be a greater need to access Welsh laws among the general public. Our final recommendation therefore is that the Welsh Government should provide further information on how it intends to publicise the Bill, if enacted. Thank you.