8. Statement by the Counsel General and Brexit Minister: Legislation related to leaving the EU

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:54 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 5:54, 25 February 2020

Can I thank the Minister for the advance copy of the statement that he shared with me this afternoon? I'm very grateful for the statement. I think it does present a very different sort of language and tone than some of the statements we've had in the past in this Chamber regarding arrangements post Brexit, and I very much welcome it. I think that it's very clear that you've considered the future legislative arrangements that might arise in some detail and you're clearly cracking on with any work that may be required as we go forward. 

I note that you have decided not to proceed with a portmanteau Bill at present, and I think that that is very wise. I don't think that there's a great deal of appetite for that sort of approach in this Chamber, and I think you recognise that, too, in your statement, which I very much welcome. It doesn't mean, of course, that we would want to accept all of the legislative changes that may happen in this period between now and 31 December. Now, I recognise the fact, for example, that there will be some pieces of legislation that will go through the European Parliament but may not actually have an impact until beyond 31 December, for example. I wonder how you're differentiating between the legislative changes that you may need to keep pace with because they will be implemented during the transition period, versus those that you may not need necessarily to implement because they will be beyond that 31 December timetable. 

As you've quite rightly said, there are already significant powers at the disposal of Welsh Ministers to be able to implement and make some technical changes to arrangements through tertiary legislation and, indeed, there will be some secondary legislation powers as well that you may be able to use in order to modify the existing regulations that apply here in Wales. I think it would be useful, perhaps, if there could be some sort of bringing together of those powers into a single document that we can be able to determine where those powers might lie in terms of the levers that you can pull without having to resort to primary legislation in order to make some changes. So perhaps there's some compendium of information that the Welsh Government might usefully be able to bring to the Chamber in order to assist the National Assembly as well, I think, in terms of the scrutiny function that we have as Assembly Members. 

I'm very pleased that you recognise the importance of common frameworks across the United Kingdom and that you're seeking to work constructively with the UK Government in order to achieve those. I recognise that, sometimes, there will be healthy debate about how those common frameworks and arrangements might work and that we clearly do need to pin down the systems that will govern those arrangements in the future in order to ensure that the voice of devolved legislatures and the voice of devolved Governments can be strongly influential and appropriately influential in the way that those frameworks are developed. Clearly, you've made a number of statements in the past about how the union should operate, going forward, and I recognise that there need to be changes, too. I think I've put on record in the past my recognition that a future arrangement should be a federal arrangement, and I'm more than happy to have a dialogue with people in any political party in this Chamber in order to try to seek those sorts of arrangements, going forward. But I do think that we need to have some clarity, really, on those powers that you already have, so if you could bring that to us, that would be very helpful indeed. 

Perhaps you can also tell us what discussions you've been having with the UK Government to date on those common frameworks. I know that there'll be future discussions taking place, too, but perhaps you can just bring us up to speed in terms of the work that might be going on between your officials and UK Government officials in that respect. 

Another concern that I have is about the capacity of Welsh Government, given the significant legislative demands that are already upon this Parliament between now and the next elections to the Welsh Parliament in May next year. What is the capacity of the Welsh Government to be able to bring further significant pieces of legislation forward that might be required, if there are significant pieces of work that might need to be done?