Group 4: General power of competence (Amendments 107, 3, 108, 109, 110, 68, 74, 69)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:48 pm on 10 November 2020.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 5:48, 10 November 2020

Diolch, Llywydd. Can you hear me? Yes. Again, a disappointing but not unexpected response. It seems that the Minister and Welsh Government believe a lot of things that have been directly contradicted by the relevant expert bodies in this case, consistent with the previous dismissal of concerns raised by the WLGA, Solace and others. And now they not only know better than the national park authorities, but they also know better than the Auditor General for Wales. I, for one, would prefer to take advice from the expert bodies on this, and our amendments are not partisan, they are giving voice to those concerns raised by non-political bodies with expertise in these areas. Wisdom does not come with election, wisdom comes from knowing that you do not have a monopoly on knowledge or understanding, and that a wise person therefore engages with those experts working in the field, and takes a lead from them. It's disappointing that, once again, this does not appear to be happening in this case.