Diolch, Llywydd. As the Minister has outlined, this debate follows on from the Senedd's decision at the end of December to consent to the UK Government's Environment Bill. We considered the supplementary memorandum and the correspondence related to it at our meeting yesterday, but the Senedd will understand that we've not had time to report formally. But can I say right at the outset that we really do welcome the decision to lay the supplementary memorandum and to hold this debate today, when the first piece of correspondence that was sent to us by the Minister on 25 October suggested that neither could happen because of time pressures? Holding this debate today is a helpful precedent, we believe, and should be followed if there are similar circumstances that arise in the future.

I do wish to highlight some of the points made by the Minister in her second letter to us of 28 October 2021. In that letter, the Minister told us that, due to the lateness of the original England-only amendment to the Bill tabled by the UK Government, without the amendment detailed in the supplementary memorandum being debated today, the Wales power could have remained constrained to cover plastic single-use items only, and curtailed the Welsh Ministers' ability to act in such an important area relative to England. She's touched on that in her remarks now as well.

However, to go back a few steps, it's clear that this situation itself would not have arisen had the Welsh Government chosen to legislate itself on these matters through a Welsh environment Bill. Indeed, a Welsh environment Bill could have enabled the Welsh Government to propose legislation that met its needs directly, and those of Welsh citizens, potentially, of course, in more ambitious ways than exist in the UK Bill. This is a particularly important point, as the Minister told us again how this policy area is indeed a top priority for the Welsh Government.

In light of today's debate, this is an opportune time for the committee to draw the Senedd's attention to the Welsh Government's principles for legislating through UK Government Bills. They were provided to us recently by the Counsel General. We believe they seem to contain some inconsistencies, which we'll explore at future evidence sessions with the Counsel General. But, overall, when the principles are considered, alongside some of the correspondence we've received in response to specific questions on individual legislative consent memoranda, we are concerned as a committee at the direction of travel that the Welsh Government appears now to be taking—whether out of its own volition or out of necessity.

The default position adopted would now appear to be that the Welsh Government is increasingly comfortable with the UK Government legislating not just on the boundaries of devolution, and not infrequently either, but at the heart of devolution. In doing so, it is using inter-governmental working to deliver some of its legislative objectives, whilst at the same time citing a lack of resources for legislating within the Senedd. Overall, the committee feels that these are worrying developments, which should concern us all here in the Senedd, because it risks bypassing and risks undermining the Senedd's role as a legislature, and indeed our role as Senedd Members within it. So, we'll continue to press strongly on these matters.

As the Counsel General indicated recently, our role as a committee is an important one in the Senedd, particularly given the unicameral nature of our Parliament. So, along with other committees, we're seeking to try to protect the integrity of devolution and to stand up for Welsh parliamentary democracy in the process by making these points on record. Diolch, Llywydd.