While my committee, building on the work of its predecessor, has taken the lead, the agreement represents the settled position on the information that the Welsh Government will provide to the Senedd as a whole with regard to Welsh Ministers' participation in the formal, ministerial-level inter-governmental meetings, the agreements, concordats, and the memorandums of understanding. Such information is becoming more and more vital to us as Senedd Members in monitoring and understanding the work of the Welsh Ministers in a UK context.

Now, as I just briefly mentioned, our predecessor committee in the fifth Senedd recommended to the Welsh Government that it enter into an agreement that would support the Senedd’s scrutiny of the Welsh Government in its inter-governmental dealings. The Welsh Government agreed, and some Members will know that the first iteration of this agreement was put in place and formally noted by the fifth Senedd in March 2019.

One of the first things our committee did, very soon after our formation, was to set about establishing a new agreement with the Welsh Government that was fit for purpose in this, our sixth Senedd. I am very pleased that the First Minister was equally open to the agreement’s continuing existence, and that we have been able to bring this new version to the Senedd before 2021 comes to a close. I would also like to take this opportunity to note for the record that while discussions on a new agreement took place, the Welsh Government nevertheless met the requirement in the original agreement and laid an annual report on 28 September, which is commendable, and is to be welcomed.

The agreement establishes three principles that will govern the relationship between the Senedd and the Welsh Government with regard to inter-governmental relations. These principles are transparency, accountability and respect for the part that confidential discussions must play between governments. The Welsh Government has recognised the Senedd’s primary purpose of scrutinising the activity of the Welsh Government. In return, as we in the Senedd obviously acknowledge, there will be sometimes a need for confidential inter-governmental discussion between the Governments within the UK. So, the agreement seeks to ensure that the principles of the Welsh Government’s accountability to the Senedd, and transparency with regard to these relationships, are now built into inter-governmental relations and mechanisms.

I would also like to draw the Senedd’s attention to a further commitment from the First Minister that has been included in our report on the agreement. This commitment builds upon a protocol that was in place between our predecessor committee and the Welsh Government in the fifth Senedd. The First Minister has now agreed that the Welsh Government will write to my committee and to other relevant Senedd committees to inform us of any intention to consent to the UK Government exercising a delegated legislative power in a devolved Welsh area and, again, this is really commendable. And where time allows, the Welsh Government has also committed to provide an opportunity for the Senedd to express a view before consent is given. Furthermore, the Welsh Government will lay a statement in relation to every exercise of a delegated legislative power by a UK Minister in a devolved area to which the Welsh Ministers have given consent, explaining the rationale for that consent, and this will normally be done within three working days of the laying before or notification to the UK Parliament.

So, while my committee will continue to take the lead on monitoring the implementation of the agreement and the Welsh Government’s compliance with its terms, I would encourage other Senedd committees to become familiar with it, and the potential implications and benefits for their scrutiny work. And can I, in closing, thank my committee members, colleagues on the committee, for their diligence in this matter, and the clerking team as well who've been excellent in this regard, but also my thanks to Welsh Government as well for the way that they've worked with us in bringing forward this agreement? Diolch yn fawr iawn.