Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 6 October 2021.
Thank you, Delyth. You and I have discussed this matter a number of times, and I absolutely appreciate what you say. We could, of course, have looked at going in with the UK Government on their arrangements, but we considered, and I'm sure you agree, that they do not suit the situation that we have here in Wales and we'd be far better off to have our own system in place.
We have, as you know, an interim arrangement in place, and we are committed to bringing forward suitable-for-Wales governance arrangements. The First Minister will be making—well, I'm not sure if it's the First Minister or the Counsel General, but one of them will be making a statement to the Senedd shortly about the next years of the legislative programme, and it's for them to do that and not for me. But we are working very hard behind the scenes to make sure that we have both the ability and the skill and talent to bring together all the separate strands to make sure that, when we present the governance arrangements through the committees for scrutiny and to the floor of the Senedd, they will be fit for purpose. So, I absolutely accept what you say, but we are in the process of working to make sure that we have all of the arrangements in place so that we can get the best possible governance arrangements for Wales. I didn't think it was appropriate to join in with the English system in this instance because we wanted to do that. I'm afraid that has meant there is a delay, but I do think in the end that's the better course.