9. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (School Premises and Further Education Institution Premises) (Wales) Regulations 2020

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:24 pm on 15 December 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 4:24, 15 December 2020

Diolch again, Dirprwy Lywydd. Members will know that these regulations were laid late into the evening last Friday, and they came into force on Monday. We considered the regulations at our meeting yesterday morning, and we are grateful for the work of officials in preparing the necessary regulations and papers. Our report has again been laid before the Senedd to inform this afternoon's debate. Our report contains one technical point, which notes that there appears to be an inconsistency between the English and Welsh texts of the regulations regarding which enabling powers are being used. Our report also contains five merits points, which I will briefly summarise.

The first and second merits points note the Welsh Government's justification for any potential interference with human rights, and that there has been no formal consultation on these regulations. Our third merits point acknowledges that these regulations have been made in response to a public health emergency. We believe that the Welsh Government should, however, provide more detail on who it consulted and when, prior to making these regulations, and we've asked the Government to provide this information. We've also noted that there was no equality impact assessment for the regulations. In this fourth merits point, we've asked the Government to explain what arrangements it has made to publish reports of equality impact assessments, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011. Finally, in our fifth merits point, we've noted there was no child impact assessment for these regulations, and we've invited the Welsh Government to outline the steps it took to assess the particular impact of these regulations on children. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.