It's that kind of concern that was recognised at Stage 2, when the amendments were brought forward to provide the additional protections, which the Bill, as it comes to Stage 3, already contains. 

As I was saying, the Order can only be made without the consent of the corporation itself where that consent has been unreasonably withheld or delayed. A decision by Welsh Ministers that consent has been unreasonably withheld or delayed will be amenable to challenge by judicial review in the courts, and, in the very exceptional circumstances where Welsh Ministers consider that consent has been unreasonably withheld, their reasoning for coming to that view will have to be strong enough to justify that decision, and the decision will need to have been taken in accordance with public law principles, or else it could be struck down or declared unlawful. So, that protection is a new protection in the Bill, included as a consequence of Stage 2 discussions.

There is a further safeguard in the Bill, which is provided by the requirement that Ministers publish and keep under review a statement setting out the circumstances in which it's proposed to exercise the power to make an Order to dissolve a HEC in Wales. And, prior to making that statement, Ministers are required to consult persons they consider appropriate, and to lay the statement before the Senedd as soon as possible after its publication.

The charter institutions and HECs have been created and dissolved using different legal mechanisms. That's the fundamental difference between the two, and the Bill, as amended at Stage 2, ensures that there are greater similarities between the institutions in that regard. That has been the objective of the amendments that we've already made to the Bill, and that universities in Wales that are higher education corporations are not substantively disadvantaged when compared to charter universities, where, even in those circumstances, there may need to be a necessary dissolution, subject to the safeguards.

I want to thank Universities Wales for having worked with us, worked with my officials, in relation to this. I absolutely recognise that the amendments I brought forward at Stage 2 don't provide the entirety of what Universities Wales were looking for, but I believe that they strike an appropriate balance between the autonomy of individual institutions and the responsibility of Government to step in should there be a need to do so in very exceptional circumstances, and so I call on Members to reject these amendments.