5. Will the Counsel General make a statement on Welsh Government efforts to consolidate Welsh law in the fifth Senedd? OQ56271

The Senedd has seen the publication of the Law Commission's report on the form and accessibility of Welsh law, the commitment of this Government to a programme of consolidation and codification, and the delivery of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, which creates new duties to improve the accessibility of Welsh law. Work is now under way on the first two consolidation Bills, which would be available for the Government in the next Senedd to take forward, if they wish to do so, along with other projects to consolidate and codify Welsh law. 

Thank you for that reply, and, whilst I welcome the Welsh Government's ambition in this area, I do feel it would have been better if we'd taken an area of really important public policy and seen some significant advance during the fifth Senedd, and housing law is a key area where we could have done that. I think we've passed four housing Bills or four housing Acts. And do you share my disappointment that, for whatever reasons, and I'm not attributing blame, it has not been possible perhaps to make as much advance as we would have liked, given that we've now had our law-making powers for nearly 10 years? 

Well, I think it's always preferable, as David Melding's question implies, to legislate in a way which is as accessible as possible, but it's sometimes the case, when reform in a particular area is particularly intense, that can sometimes be the least convenient point at which to consolidate the law. But I do reassure him there are at least two consolidation Bills, which, whilst they haven't reached the Senedd yet, will be available to the Government in a new Senedd to start with their new statutory obligations. And I do celebrate that this Senedd has passed the legislative underpinning for that consolidation process, which I know he is an advocate for himself. And the sorts of challenges that he is setting us, as a Government, will be facilitated by the fact the Senedd has passed that legislation.