7. Will the Counsel General provide an update on the progress of the UK common frameworks? OQ56171

Certainly. I have now endorsed the vast majority of common frameworks of relevance to Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government. These are provisionally operational pending development and scrutiny by the Senedd and by the other legislatures. I anticipate being able to endorse the organic production framework shortly as well. Two further frameworks—the professional qualifications and services frameworks—will be developed this year.

As you will remember, the EU withdrawal Bill, which received legislative consent from this Senedd, agreed that UK-wide frameworks to replace the EU rulebook will be freely negotiated between the four UK Governments in many areas, some of which you mentioned, and also including, for example, food, animal welfare and the environment. As your colleague the Minister for environment and rural affairs said in her statement on the inter-ministerial group for environment, food and rural affairs last autumn, 

'I insisted frameworks had been designed to help understand and manage divergence between the four administrations'.

Indeed, the inter-ministerial group at this meeting agreed a refreshed approach to the finalisation of frameworks to ensure all reached a provisional and usable level by the end of 2020. Last month, in a positive response to the House of Lords, UK Ministers unveiled new amendments to the UK internal market Bill that will protect the common frameworks agreed with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, preventing barriers to internal trade within the UK that would disadvantage Welsh consumers and businesses. Why, therefore, are you using public resources to take legal action against the UK Government when these agreed frameworks enable current levels of flexibility to be maintained within agreed common approaches?

I think the Member may possibly have misunderstood exactly the impact of the amendments made by the House of Lords in relation to this. I'd like to pay tribute, if I may, to Lord Hope, who led on amendments on this particular issue, but also Lords across the Chamber, including some Conservative peers, who recognise, as perhaps the Member does not, the threat that the Act represents to devolution. I should just say that the amendments had the effect, simply, of giving the Secretary of State the discretion to amend the devolution settlement where a framework has been agreed. When one says that out loud, I think the challenges with that are transparent enough: firstly, that the devolution settlement should be capable of being amended by UK Government Ministers in any event, and secondly, that it should be a matter of discretion. Those are two of the examples why we think the Act needs to be challenged in court, and part of the rationale for us doing so.

Thank you, Minister.