Penally Military Base

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for European Transition (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:51 pm on 12 January 2021.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:51, 12 January 2021

I thank the Member for that supplementary, and she is of course absolutely right to say that this accommodation is inappropriate for the purpose to which it's being put. That is the position of the Welsh Government and we've obviously acted on that basis and made representations in that way to the UK Government. As I mentioned to her, in relation to the underpinning legal infrastructure and framework around the decision that's been taken by the UK Government, we've received no confirmation from them of the legislative basis on which they are themselves basing their decision to use Penally, so it's unclear to us whether the powers they have been using in relation to that have been properly complied with. A range of powers potentially come into play—the Immigration and Asylum Act in particular, but also there'll be requirements in the Equality Act, the public sector equality duty, and the European convention that would require steps to be taken, which, it appears to us, may well not have been taken. Some of those will have involved working with—[Inaudible.]—including the Welsh Government, and certainly that hasn't been complied with. So, there's a range of potential legal issues that might arise. But, as I say, at this point in time we still do not have clarity from the UK Government about the legal basis upon which it's been operating.