2. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Welsh Government in relation to the appropriateness of the guidance issued to local authorities on the blue badge scheme? OAQ54531

The Welsh Government keeps the guidance it issues on a range of matters under review. There is, of course, a debate scheduled tomorrow, to discuss the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee inquiry into the blue badge scheme in Wales, and the Government looks forward to hearing Members' views.

Thank you for that. Well, notwithstanding any debate, I've had constituents saying that, while the guidance issued by the Welsh Government on the blue badge scheme says that it supports the social model, they find that the legislation is medically focused and is inconsistently applied. In Neath Port Talbot, for example, we find that the council have insisted on evidence being provided by a hospital consultant, even though the applicants aren't under the care of a consultant. Do you accept, therefore, that the current situation is a mess and that your guidance and legislation in this area is lacking?

I thank the Member for that supplementary question. The matters that he refers to are, of course, matters that are very live in the consideration both of the committee and in relation to which a number of its recommendations apply. I know that the Minister for Economy and Transport has been engaging with the committee in relation to a number of those recommendations on an iterative basis. And I reiterate that we look forward to hearing what Members have to say in the debate tomorrow, and my colleague will respond in relation to that point.

I recognise, Counsel General, that many of these matters under consideration are matters for the departmental Minister rather than for you, but my concern is the ability of the Welsh Government to ensure that its policy is followed across the face of the country. Because one of the issues that's just been raised by the Plaid Cymru Member for South Wales West—which I have faced in my constituency myself—is that the local authority concerned simply does not deliver the policy as it's set out by the Welsh Government. In terms of your role as Counsel General, do you provide, or have you provided, any advice to Ministers, or to others, about how they can ensure that the policy as determined by this place, as determined by the Welsh Government, is actually delivered fairly and consistently across the whole country?

I hesitate to assert the convention, which I know that the Member understands applies, about the nature of advice given in relation to these matters. Of course, the question of our competence is one that is very live for me, and, whilst part of my responsibility as Counsel General is to ensure that we always act within our competence, I also take it to be the case that we should also act to the fullest extent of our competence, and I can assure him that those considerations are very much uppermost in my mind in responding to these sets of issues.