Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:00 pm on 5 July 2022.
So, I'll touch on the five Bills that the First Minister has highlighted, and rather than looking backwards, looking forward to what the First Minister's Government will be bringing forward in the next legislative session. And the clean air Bill, which he and I have spoken about many times in this Chamber, does now seem to be seeing the light of day, which is something to be welcomed. I have previously offered to work with the First Minister and other politicians across this Chamber so that we can have a speedy conclusion and passage of this piece of legislation, when you bear in mind that 1,600 people die prematurely in Wales because of dirty air. I'd be grateful to understand the First Minister's thinking, now that the Government has had time to work this piece of legislation up, as to what types of targets we might see in this piece of legislation, and whether they will be legally binding targets that we will see in the legislation, so that all parts of Wales benefit from the legislation that the Government will be bringing forward. And when does he anticipate that Bill being introduced into the Senedd over the next 12 months? Because, again, I think that would be welcome, to understand when that piece of legislation will be coming into the Senedd.
The agricultural Bill, the much-anticipated agricultural Bill, which, again, in First Minister's questions and in ministerial questions I've raised various issues on. I know there's been detailed consultation with the sector on this particularly important piece of legislation, the first piece of legislation on agriculture in Wales since the Agriculture Act 1947, which will obviously transform the landscape that agriculture operates in. I'd be grateful to understand exactly how the Ukrainian crisis has impacted on the creation and the formation of this Bill, which I think has been cited as one of the reasons why the Government has taken a little longer to bring that Bill forward, and in particular whether the Government's thinking has moved more to supporting, through this Bill, measures to increase food production here in Wales via the support that might be enabled through this piece of legislation, as the 1947 agricultural Act achieved when it was brought in all those years ago.
The single-use plastics legislation is something that we've been calling for for many years now. Indeed, in England, obviously, a piece of legislation was passed in 2020 outlawing certain single-use plastic items. In Scotland, it has just been enacted, on 1 June, with a comprehensive ban in Scotland. I noticed from the First Minister's statement that he seems to be favouring more the English model because he alludes to some parts of the single-use plastics' use not being covered by the Bill in his statement today. Could he confirm if that is the case? It's my understanding that those single-use plastics that wouldn't be covered by the Bill would be predominantly medical devices and medical applications that wouldn't be covered by the legislation, because I think it would be important to understand how the Bill will discriminate between medical and day-to-day use that we have in our everyday lives.
I fully support the coal tip Bill, which I hope the Government will bring forward speedily. I know from being a representative of South Wales Central, which covers three of the valley areas that show great concern on this particular issue, this would be a welcome piece of legislation. But I'd be grateful to understand how this piece of legislation will provide critical infrastructure and support the improvement of the environment that the coal tips and the communities that live under the coal tips will see via the introduction of this piece of legislation. The statement does touch on the critical infrastructure improvements, so I'm interested to know why you need the legislation rather than the tools you've already got to make those improvements in the infrastructure.
The local government finance Bill that the First Minister touched on, it would be good to understand whether the Government's thinking of wholesale reform of local government taxation and doing away with the current council tax operation as we see it as the moment, based on, obviously, the valuation of properties, or whether the Government is thinking more along the lines of moving to a local income tax. Because I think the First Minister would have borne the scars from the last revaluation, as most politicians tend to in this particular fraught area of policy. He was then a senior adviser to the then First Minister, when the last revaluation happened back in the early noughties. So, if you could explain in a little more detail what the Government's current thinking is on that local government finance Bill, and whether we are going to see a wholesale change in the way that local councils raise their revenue, so that we can understand the changes that might be coming forward.
On the Senedd reform, well, he and I disagree over that, but at the end of the day, he got the endorsement from his own conference on Saturday, and I understand through, obviously, Plaid Cymru, that there is the two-thirds majority within this Senedd Chamber. We, on this side of the house, whilst disagreeing with the need for more politicians, have tried to engage in the process via the special purpose committee that was set up, over the voting mechanism and, indeed, what constituencies might look like. So, people can have confidence that there is genuine cross-party consensus; whether you sit on the centre-right, the centre or the centre-left, you can actually believe that that has had all political persuasions come to it. Regrettably, we had to pull out from that committee because of the statement that was made by the leader of Plaid Cymru and the First Minister, but I would be grateful to understand from the First Minister, in drafting that piece of legislation, how comprehensive it will be in dealing with the way the boundaries will be created and, in particular, the confidence that he has—. As someone who has a complete gender balance in his own household myself, having two daughters and two sons, I can fully appreciate how important that gender balance is. [Laughter.] I have to say that my daughters win the argument more than my sons tend to win the argument, and anyone who knows my two daughters would fully understand why that is the case. I would be pleased to try and understand from the First Minister, because there has been a genuine question mark over whether there is competence here in the Senedd to pass such legislation, which would see what has been talked about in the agreements that have been tabled and whether that will make it into the legislation that the First Minister's Government will be introducing to the Senedd.
And just one other final point, I think I'm correct in understanding the timeline for the delivery of that piece of legislation, but I think it would be by the end of 2023. If the First Minister could confirm that. I think I've understood from the statement this afternoon that you are looking to have it introduced and passed through the Senedd by December 2023 to allow a bedding-in period prior to the 2026 election, which we all know is slated in legislation for May 2026. Thank you, First Minister.