Diolch, Llywydd. I move the motion. The majority of the provisions in the Energy Prices Bill are reserved. The provisions within devolved competence with which we are concerned today are about the powers of the Secretary of State to give support for meeting energy costs. The situation with the UK parliamentary timetable on this Bill is clearly out of our hands. This has meant that the Senedd has not been afforded the opportunity to carry out meaningful scrutiny of the memorandum laid yesterday, and of the Bill.

I am pleased, though, that we have had the opportunity to discuss what is a vital measure towards the cost-of-living crisis at a time of national crisis. The Welsh Government has long been calling for more to be done to support domestic and non-domestic customers with rising energy costs. We welcomed the announcement of a two-year package for households, and called for the same scale of support to be made available for non-domestic customers.

Rather than extending the support for non-domestic customers, the Chancellor limited the support for households to just six months. There is no justification for this decision, given the cost of energy is expecting to remain extremely high for a number of years to come. The credible fiscal step needed from the Chancellor was to fund this support through a windfall tax across the energy-producing sector. There is no justification for these windfall gains not to be targeted to fund the necessary measures of support for those that need it most across Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom. I will continue to call on the UK Government to put in place a long-term package of support, funded in a progressive way, to help mitigate the impact of high energy prices.

The Bill before us today is important in that it establishes a legislative framework that allows for a scheme to reduce the price of electricity and gas across Great Britain. This is a positive step, as it will insulate customers from the factors pushing energy prices to such high levels. We agree with the principle in the Bill of energy suppliers delivering savings directly via the billing system. This is an efficient recourse to deliver a scheme, as the licensed suppliers have the expertise and systems to implement the policy as set out. We further welcome the requirement on licensed suppliers to become party to the scheme as soon as is practicable.

As mentioned earlier, the majority of the provisions in the Bill are reserved. The provisions within devolved competence with which we are concerned today are primarily about the powers of the Secretary of State to give support for meeting energy costs. Regarding the devolution of constitutional issues, the Bill intrudes upon devolved matters by conferring functions on the Secretary of State in devolved areas. As such, this approach is inconsistent with our principles for consenting to UK Government Bills. I have therefore called on the UK Government to consult on any measures that impact on devolved areas. While I acknowledge that taking action forward on energy prices is a matter of urgency, implementation must be done through effective consultation to ensure that the responsibilities of this Senedd are respected.

It is important to note that we are not transferring powers through this Bill, but the Bill does confer functions on the Secretary of State in devolved areas. As such—