Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motions. In March this year, the Senedd approved the regulations establishing four new corporate joint committees, or CJCs, in Wales. The Senedd also approved a number of additional regulations that ensured CJCs would be subject to appropriate oversight, management and conduct requirements from the start. The regulations, approved in March, formed part of the first stage of putting in place the legislative framework which CJCs would operate within, based on the principles that CJCs should be treated as part of the local government family and should operate in the same way. 

The regulations that we are debating today are part of the second stage of putting that framework in place. I am currently consulting on a third stage, and a final substantive stage is planned for next year. This staged approach, agreed with local government, ensures appropriate consideration of the extensive amount of existing local government legislation, and allows the co-development of the legislation being applied to CJCs that we are committed to. Whilst Members may have views on the principle of CJCs, it's important to note that, today, we are not debating if CJCs should be established, but how CJCs are regulated as local government bodies and public bodies in Wales.

The draft Corporate Joint Committees (General) (No. 2) (Wales) Regulations 2021 provide for a number of technical administrative arrangements for CJCs, including the roles for certain executive officers to support the work of CJCs, as well as some general provisions in relation to CJC staff. They also provide for the functions of the CJC to be discharged by other people, for  example its staff or sub-committees. In addition, they provide for meetings and proceedings, and make a small number of miscellaneous and consequential amendments to give full effect to the provisions.  

Eight further statutory instruments have also been laid alongside the general regulations, which continue the application of these public body duties that you would expect to apply to a public body in Wales. These ensure that CJCs are brought within the scope of the Welsh Language Standards (No. 1) Regulations 2015, and enable the Welsh Language Commissioner to make a compliance notice in respect of CJCs; are liable to comply with the sustainable development and well-being duties under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015; are subject to the socioeconomic duty under the Equality Act 2010; contribute to the eradication of child poverty; have regard to the purposes of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of an area; maintain and enhance biodiversity in the exercise of their functions; and have regard to the purposes of national parks when exercising functions in relation to or affecting land in a national park. 

The regulations we are debating today have been informed by the responses to the consultation I launched in July, and by previous consultations on CJCs. They have also been informed by the engagement activities that I and my officials have undertaken with local government and key stakeholders. The overwhelming view was that CJCs should have the same legislative and administrative arrangements as principal councils, and should be subject to the same public bodies duties. As with previous stages, the approach to the development of the CJC model continues to be one of close collaboration with local government. I'd like to take this opportunity to once again thank the local authority leaders and their officials for their constructive approach to the co-development of these regulations, and I ask Members to approve these regulations today. Diolch.