3. Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Legislative Programme

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:55 pm on 6 July 2021.

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Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:55, 6 July 2021

Well, I thank the leader of the opposition for those comments. If I could deal with them as you've gone through them, I think, in a constructive way.

In respect of the issue of backbench ballots, these are clearly an important part of the operation of this Parliament, and clearly the selection and taking forward of such legislation is really a matter for the Senedd rather than the Government itself.

In terms of planning, you'll be aware of the Law Commission work that has gone on with a view to the possibility of bringing forward a planning consolidation Bill, and that is obviously something that is under consideration, and when I table my report on the accessibility of Welsh law and the issues around codification, I hope to be able to refer specifically to that.

In terms of a clean air Bill, it is an absolute commitment of this Government to introduce a clean air Bill. There is an issue of prioritisation in respect of the work that takes place in this first year. I made comments in my introduction of the legislative programme, really to the particular demands in respect of the broader framework of legislation that's occurring as a result of UK Bills, as a result of Brexit, as a result of COVID. But I'm very adamant that one of the things that we have to ensure is that, when we pass legislation, we have a clear timetable and implementation strategy in respect of that legislation, because until you have implementation, the primary legislation does not have the full effect and meaning that we want it to have. So, for example, in areas around renting homes, we know that there are over 20 major pieces of subsidiary legislation that will need to be worked on and need to be brought forward, and the same is true in many other areas. So, one of the reasons for adopting this particular approach in respect of identifying our first year, but then also preparing work and further statements in due course on years 2 and 3 and the future programme of legislation, is to ensure that what we have done is prioritise what we really do need to do now, what we really need to do in terms of implementation and some of the major pieces of legislation we need to start now, but that doesn't mean, of course, that work isn't going on in other areas, because the tabling of a piece of legislation is really the end product of an enormous amount of work that takes place. So, I think it's important that we actually have regard for that.

In terms of innovation in local government and around elections, well, of course, you're right that there is a very short period of time in respect of the local government elections, and there is of course the Gould convention, which requires that any changes to legislation are implemented six months prior to the election itself. So, this constrains some of the things that can be done. But there are, of course, things within the existing powers that can be implemented. They can relate to the actual design and operation of the ballot forms themselves. We know that there were some 7,000 ballots that were incorrectly filled in, and, of course, existing legislation does not allow those ballots to actually be returned. So, there are issues on how we ensure there are fewer errors made within the voting system. I think there are steps that can be taken to actually improve and enhance registration for elections, and I think there may even be an opportunity in respect of powers to implement pilots—pilots that themselves, nevertheless, would involve a considerable amount of legislative work, but might involve things like, for example, a pilot on voting in schools and having ballot boxes there. That's something that has been discussed. Some of these are items that were discussed prior to the Senedd elections, but there wasn't time for implementation. So, all those areas.

In respect of food security, I think the Minister and the Government have made clear many times how important that is, and, of course, there'll be further details on the agriculture Bill—the content and the passage of that.

And then, perhaps, on the final point that you raised with regard to capacity, well, I dealt with that, to some extent, in my introduction and in response to your comments. I'm very aware of those particular demands. There might be demands in respect of legislation in respect of Senedd reform. There will be demands, no doubt, in respect of legislation that would come from this floor, from this Senedd, in terms of individual Member Bills. So, that is something that I'm very alert to, but very alert to not only the implementation demands but the very considerable demands and the change of tack and prioritisation we have to take now in actually looking very, very closely at UK Government Bills and the concerns we have about those areas where they begin to encroach in respect of our devolved responsibilities.