The next item is the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021. And I call on the Minister once again—Vaughan Gething.

Motion NDM7614 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2021 laid in the Table Office on 26 February 2021.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motion before us. Members will be aware the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 were reviewed on 18 February, and concluded that the whole of Wales should remain at alert level 4. This means that everyone must continue to stay at home for now. All non-essential retail, hospitality venues, licensed premises and leisure facilities must remain closed. This also means that people are generally unable to form extended households, otherwise known as 'bubbles'. Until the most recent amendments to the regulations, the only exception has been for single responsible adult households, adults living alone, or living alone with children, who could form a support bubble with one other household. Since Wales moved to alert level 4, households needing contact on compassionate grounds, or to assist with childcare, have been able to do so.

The regulations have, however, been amended so that households with any children under the age of one can form a support bubble—again, with one other household. This seeks to ensure that new parents or carers of children under one can receive support from friends or family during the crucial first year of a baby's life. This will also help with the baby's development. The amended restriction regulations also allow 16 and 17-year-olds living alone, or with people of the same age, without any adults, to similarly form a support bubble. And finally, the regulations have been amended to allow all venues approved for the solemnisation of weddings, formation of a civil partnership, or alternative wedding ceremonies, to open for this limited purpose. To be clear, wedding receptions, at present, are still not permitted.

We've clearly set out that our first priority is to get as many children and students back to face-to-face learning as soon as possible. With this in mind, our approach to easing restrictions will be in gradual steps. We will continue to listen to the medical and scientific advice, then assess the impact of the changes that we make. Despite the huge progress in rolling out vaccines that we've just discussed and the improving public health situation, we have seen how quickly the situation can deteriorate. Faced with new variants of coronavirus, especially the much faster spreading Kent variant, we cannot provide as much certainty and predictability as we would otherwise like. We will give as much notice to people and businesses as we can do ahead of any change. When we believe it is safe to ease restrictions, we will do so. I ask Members to support these regulations, which continue to play an important part in adapting the coronavirus rules here in Wales to ensure that they remain both effective and proportionate. Thank you.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Ann Jones) took the Chair.

Thank you. Can I now call the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw?

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. I've just a few short comments to make. We considered these regulations at our meeting yesterday morning, and our report contains three merits points that will be familiar to Members. Our first merits point notes the Welsh Government's justification for any potential interference with human rights. We've drawn particular attention to a number of key paragraphs in the explanatory memorandum that make direct reference to articles 2, 5, 8, 9, and 11 of the European charter of fundamental rights and article 1 of the first protocol. And our second and third merits points note that there has been no formal consultation on the regulations, and that a regulatory impact assessment has not been carried out by the Welsh Government. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Two changes here that we agree with, the first relating to venues for weddings and civil partnerships, and the second allowing households with one child under the age of one to form an extended household. I'm very pleased to see this happening in terms of well-being, and I make specific reference to the work that Bethan Sayed has done in this particular area, where she's been raising awareness as a young parent herself, of course. So, as I say, we will be supporting this. 

I will refer, if I may, just briefly, to the next review. I do hope, in terms of well-being, that we will be able to move to a 'stay local' instruction, rather than a 'stay at home', which I think would make a great difference in terms of people's well-being, and I look forward to having more of a road map on the way forward. But Ynys Môn is my constituency. We know that Ynys Môn is one of the areas where the number of cases is highest, and we know of the impact that the new coronavirus variant has, how quickly it spreads, and we see the latest figures this afternoon and the number of cases in Ysbyty Gwynedd and so on. Therefore, we must move on very cautiously. So, just a brief question: how will the Government communicate as clearly as possible the message that people can't use the fact that the door is being pushed ajar as a reason to push that door open, because we're not ready for that?

Thank you. Could I call on the Minister for Health and Social Services to reply to the debate? Vaughan Gething.  

Thank you, once again, to the legislation and justice committee for their scrutiny of the regulations. Once again, the regular reviews they undertake do help us to make sure that the legislation fulfils its purpose and is appropriately drafted, and they have, from time to time, picked up what I think are small, but important, differences in the regulations, which we have then corrected, once they have reviewed them. That is always helpful. 

On Rhun ap Iorwerth's point, I'm grateful for the support for these regulations. On your broader point about possible future regulations, you will have heard both myself and the First Minister refer to the possibility of a 'stay local' period before there is a wider move in travel. And there is nothing perfect about that, but we recognise that, in moving from one stage to another, an intermediate 'stay local' stage may well be useful. And this is about people being sensible with any rules or guidance. And if we're going to provide guidance on it, it is just that, not a hard and fast rule, and we ask people to be sensible about how they exercise that. And I recognise that, if I lived in the middle of Powys, what 'stay local' might mean could be very different to living here in Penarth or in the Cardiff part of my constituency. And so we ask people to exercise the level of common sense and support that has seen us to this point now. What I would not want to see is for people to take an approach to any potential easing that takes us well beyond where we need to be, because I want to see a safe and phased progress out of our current restrictions that does not mean we need to put the brakes on again. 

People need to be cognisant of, if they are going to travel, to make sure they're still observing the other restrictions that will still be there and in place, and in particular the challenges for all of us about making sure we keep our distance from people, good hand hygiene and not mixing indoors in particular. That's still the most dangerous and risky form of contact and, as I've said, the Kent variant does mean that this is a much more transmissible variant than the one that we have currently dealt with, and so that's why the extra caution is needed. It's for all of us, though, to play our part so we can have different choices to make in the future, and different choices that I certainly hope we can all agree we would not want to have to reverse back from.

So, thank you for your general comments and support, and I look forward to hoping that Members will now agree the regulations before us. 

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? No, I don't see objections. Therefore, the motion is agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36. 

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.