Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 21 May 2019.
Well, I thank the Member for that supplementary question, and I know that this is a matter that he's been campaigning on in his constituency and is in close touch with his local 1950s women's group. He is right to say that in the debate on 20 March the Deputy Minister indicated an approach on behalf of the Welsh Government. As he says, the High Court has granted permission for that judicial review and the hearing will be heard on the fifth and sixth.
The powers that the Counsel General has under the Government of Wales Act 2006 don't permit intervention in this particular set of circumstances, unfortunately. That's an assessment I've made subsequently, given the representations that the Minister made in the Chamber. However, the Welsh Government has subsequently written to the UK Government to press its concerns in relation to the UK Government's approach, and it concludes by urging the UK Government to take action to mitigate the negative impacts, which the women are enduring through no fault of their own, and to address the concerns in particular raised by Professor Alston and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and that letter has been sent to follow up the commitments made by the Deputy Minister in the Chamber.