Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. I move the legislative consent motion for the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Bill.

Most of this Bill is outside devolved competence. The provisions with which we are concerned today are solely about increasing the mandatory retirement age for members of our devolved tribunals to the age of 75, and arrangements for sitting in retirement. These are things on which we have concluded that, under the current settlement at least, it makes sense for there to be continued parity between England and Wales.

The Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee and the Equality and Social Justice Committee have both scrutinised the legislative consent memorandum. I thank them for their consideration of the memorandum and for their reports on this matter. The Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee agreed with our assessment of the provisions in the Bill requiring the consent of the Senedd.

The Equality and Social Justice Committee concluded that the majority of the committee had no objection to the agreement of the motion, noting that one Member expressed concern about the principle of legislation that will apply in Wales being enacted via a UK Government Bill rather than a Welsh Government Bill. This is not a position with which I disagree. Generally, primary legislation in devolved areas should be enacted by the Senedd. Our approach to legislating is to maximise outcomes that can be achieved through the capacity we have to introduce our own legislation and through taking appropriate opportunities available to us in the UK Government's legislative programme. In this instance, the provisions are intended to provide greater flexibility to meet business needs across courts and tribunals. Wales would be at a disadvantage if judicial office holders were faced with a shorter and potentially less flexible judicial career in Wales compared to that which they could pursue in England.

In December, I welcomed the publication of the Law Commission's report, reviewing the law governing the devolved tribunals in Wales. In my written statement, I made it clear that we strongly endorse the fundamental principle of the Law Commission's recommendations for a unified, single, structurally independent system of tribunal in Wales. We are working through the details of the Law Commission's recommendations as we develop our distinctive Welsh policy relating to Welsh tribunals, including judicial offices.

Implementing our policy for reform of the devolved tribunals will of course require primary legislation. However, the provisions in the Bill we are debating today and the changes to the mandatory retirement age and sitting in retirement arrangements for judicial office holders can be made and implemented sooner than would be the case if we were to defer the changes to our future legislation in response to the Law Commission's report. I consider that the provisions of the Bill that are the subject of the memorandum fall within the legislative competence of the Senedd and, accordingly, I recommend that Members agree the motion and provide the Senedd's consent to those Bill provisions.