Diolch, Llywydd. I welcome the opportunity to explain the background to this LCM. The Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Bill, the direct payments Bill, was introduced by the UK Government on 9 January 2020. This Bill provides the Governments of all four nations the legal basis to continue operating the direct payments scheme in 2020, giving our farmers much-needed stability in this period of uncertainty as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union. 

The withdrawal agreement Bill, if passed by the UK Parliament, when read together with the withdrawal agreement, will disapply the direct payments regulation and other related EU legislation governing the 2020 scheme here in the UK. The direct payments Bill will incorporate EU legislation governing the direct payments scheme in 2020 into domestic law, and provide time-limited regulation-making powers to amend the incorporated legislation, ensuring it is operable once the UK has left the EU. Not only will this allow us to continue making payments to farmers in 2020, it will also allow us to continue to monitor, audit and enforce cross-compliance standards. 

To ensure the legal powers needed are in place by exit day, the UK Government has introduced the direct payments Bill through an expedited process, with Royal Assent expected to be given by 31 January. As a result of this compressed timescale of parliamentary passage, the LCM for this Bill has not been able to undergo committee scrutiny. However, in deciding whether to recommend legislative consent for this Bill, I've taken into consideration the comments raised by the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee and the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee during their scrutiny of the UK agricultural Bill. 

The provisions in the direct payments Bill are limited to direct payments regulations applicable to the 2020 scheme year only, and are essential to the immediate continuity of direct payments support to the agricultural sector after Brexit. Given the time available, I believe the UK Bill is an appropriate vehicle to achieve this. As the purpose of the direct payments Bill relates to agriculture and the common agricultural policy, I'm of the view it makes provision regarding devolved matters. However, I am content these provisions should be made in the Bill for Wales, to ensure we have the necessary powers in time to continue supporting farmers through the direct payments scheme.

As we have made clear to the UK Government, our recommendation for the Senedd to withhold consent for the withdrawal agreement Bill was based on specific concerns with that particular Bill. This recommendation, or the Senedd's decision, does not affect wider inter-governmental relations. I would, therefore, ask Assembly Members to support this LCM for the direct payments Bill, and I move the motion.