Item 8 on our agenda is the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Consequential Amendments and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2021. I call on the Minister for Housing and Local Government to move the motion—Julie James.

Motion NDM7648 Rebecca Evans

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

1. Approves that the draft The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Consequential Amendments and Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2021 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 23 February 2021.

Motion moved.

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion. As Members may recall, we made emergency regulations last year to allow local government bodies to meet remotely and publish meeting documents electronically. These bodies would not otherwise have been able to meet legally or safely, or continue their business during the pandemic. 

Warmly welcomed by stakeholders, these regulations have also allowed bodies to work more flexibly and efficiently, and decision-making processes have been made accessible to a much wider audience. Some bodies have actually reported increased attendance at meetings. However, these emergency regulations are time limited and only apply to meetings until the end of April. Government amendments to the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 made permanent provision enabling local authority meetings to be held entirely remotely and providing for the electronic publication of notices of meetings and other meeting documents. I intend to bring these provisions into force on 1 May. Local government bodies in Wales will have clarity as to how they will be holding their meetings and conducting their business once the emergency regulations cease to have effect, and this would also bring meeting procedures into the twenty-first century. The regulations before you today will ensure that the necessary consequential amendments are made so that existing related legislation accurately reflects the legislative changes resulting from these reforms.

The regulations also address an anomaly from the emergency regulations. Currently, any documents published electronically under those regulations, which relate to a meeting held between 22 April 2020 and 30 April 2021, or to an executive decision taken during that period, must be made accessible electronically indefinitely. These regulations will limit this requirement to six years from the date of the meeting or decision, which is consistent with the retention periods provided for in the permanent provisions set out in the 2021 Act. This will ensure a proportionate approach that balances public accessibility with administrative burdens on authorities.

I should also inform Members that there are two minor technical changes to the drafting of the regulations since they were laid in draft, in the form of a minor correction to a footnote and the insertion of the year in the title of an enactment. Diolch. 

I now call on the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd, again. We considered these regulations at our meeting yesterday morning, again, and our report contains one technical and one merits point.

The technical reporting point notes that regulations 10 and 11 require notices or documents that have been published between 22 April 2020 and 30 April 2021 to remain accessible electronically for a period of six years, as the Minister has outlined. The regulations are not due to come into force until 1 May 2021. Our reporting point probed whether regulations 10 and 11 retrospectively change the law relating to documents published before the regulations come into force. The enabling provisions for these regulations in the 2021 Act and the Local Government Act 2000 do not provide express authority for the regulations to have retrospective effect. The Welsh Government's response to our report confirms that regulations 10 and 11 do not have that retrospective legal effect. The Welsh Government told us that, in its view, retrospective provision is any provision that changes the relevant law so that it comes to effect from a time before that provision comes into force. The Welsh Government considers that regulation 10 changes the law with regard to events that occur on or after the day the law is in force. As for regulation 11, the Welsh Government does not consider that it changes the law so that it has effect from a time before that provision comes into force. 

The merits reporting point just notes that no consultation was undertaken in relation to the regulations. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Again, I have no speakers and nobody wishing to make an intervention. Therefore, the Minister to reply to the debate. 

Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I'm just grateful to the Chair of the LJC committee for their consideration this morning and their swift consideration of the response by the Government. I call on Members to approve the regulations.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] There is an objection. We'll defer voting on this until voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.

In accordance with Standing Order 12.24, unless there is an objection, the 10 motions under items 9 to 18 will be grouped for debate, but with separate votes. I don't see any objections to this proposal.