7. What assessment has the Counsel General made of the effect on Welsh law of a 'no deal' outcome of the Brexit negotiations? OQ55727

As a responsible Government, we are planning for all scenarios, including a 'no trade deal' scenario. As part of these plans, work has intensified on the subordinate legislation programme, for example, to ensure that all necessary amendments to Welsh legislation will be made before the end of the transition period.

I thank the Counsel General very much for his answer. The clock is, of course, ticking, and the Counsel General's action plan identifies a large number of areas where there will be legal uncertainty if this isn't resolved.

Can you tell us, Counsel General, how confident you are that Wales will have a functioning statute book if we reach the point where there is a 'no deal', fully taking on board, of course, the pressures on your Government resulting from the coronavirus crisis, which must have pulled energy and work away from this field? Are you confident that we will have a functioning statute book if the worst comes to the worst?

Well, I mean, that is a very important question, if I may say. I think there are two parts to the answer. The first part is to say that there is a programme of work that is already under way, as she will know, which deals with the corrections required and so on for the end of the transition period, and that's a very substantial body of work. I think we are expecting, between now and the end of the transition period, a further 22 UK Government-made statutory instruments that will require consent here in Wales, and a further 10 of those in the new year. Our current estimate, for example, in relation to SIs made in Wales, by Ministers here, will be around a further 22 of those. Those numbers may increase a little, and there's a very significant body of work that's already happened, as I know the Member will appreciate. She will know that in some of these areas we have been working with the UK Government, so the UK Government has made some of these amendments, just because of the sheer scale of the endeavour, but that has never been in an area other than in areas that are technical or, certainly, without political controversy, for reasons that she will appreciate.

What I would say is this, though: we don't yet know what the end of the transitional period will look like in terms of the outcome of these negotiations, and the work that I've just described to her—none of that is intended to deal with the outcome of negotiations for reasons that are obvious. So, there is potentially a significant body of work that'll come forward as a consequence of whatever the outcome is of those negotiations, and that may well happen in very short order. So, in relation to the work already under way, I am confident that that work can continue and be achieved on time, providing current commitments in terms of timescales and timetables are adhered to. But at this point, I'm not able to give an assurance in relation to the outcome of that larger body of work, potentially, because we don't yet know what the outcome of the negotiations looks like.

I thank the Counsel General.