9. Will the Counsel General outline how the proposed statute law (repeals) (Wales) Bill will help improve the accessibility of Welsh law? OQ58656

Thank you. The Bill will declutter the statute book by removing provisions that are obsolete, spent, no longer of practical utility or effect or have no realistic chance of ever being commenced. This will make it easier and quicker for legal practitioners and others to find the information that they seek.

Thank you. Announcing the consultation on the statue law (repeals) (Wales) Bill, you did advise that the measure would tackle the

'disorganised state of our vast and sprawling statute book.'

I acknowledge that provisions can fall out of use or are never commenced. However, I am concerned that this work is going to contribute to the delay we are experiencing in the implementation of new Welsh law. The clean air Act is late; the Minister for Climate Change is refusing to legislate to replicate sections 116 to 125 of the UK Building Safety Act 2022; we've still not established an environmental governance body; and the Bill comes at a time when the focus of the Welsh Government should be on matters of greater importance, such as the cost-of-living crisis facing people across Wales.

Whilst I appreciate that you are only now consulting on the Bill, do you agree with me that the priority should now be on focusing Welsh resources on the creation of new Welsh laws that our society and our country desperately need?

I thank you for some of those comments, and I certainly agree with you about the importance of focusing on the cost-of-living crisis; of course, that is the very reason why we actually think that the retained EU law Bill should, actually, be shelved or completely disregarded. But, in terms of the responsibilities we have as a Senedd and as a Welsh Government, the purpose of the consultation is, really, to fulfil our ongoing obligation to maintain a Wales statute book. This is, essentially, a housekeeping exercise to remove unnecessary provisions. I don't believe that this will impact on all of the other important legislation that is there, and I think it's a mistake to confuse it within that, because it is not reforming law or changing law. What it is actually doing is a tidying-up exercise of the statute book.

It covers a number of areas, from rural development boards, enterprise zones, recorded public rights of way, Welsh Development Agency and so on and so forth. All Parliaments have a responsibility to do this; all Parliaments, by and large, do do it, to one degree or another. I think we're at a stage where the issue of access to law is really important to us. As we develop Welsh law, it's very important that our law is put into good shape and we exercise best practice. One of the reasons we are introducing, for example, the consolidation Bill on the historic environment, and we'll be doing one in planning, is because there are long-term benefits to us doing so; there are long-term benefits to citizens, practitioners, civic organisations and other bodies to actually having the law in a state that is fit for purpose. So, we will continue with this at an appropriate stage; legislation will be tabled.

If I can just make the point, because I know your comments were well intentioned, that it is equally important, as a Parliament, in terms of our legislative programme, that we also are monitoring the overall quality and state of our legislation, and that where opportunities arise to tidy that up to make it more effective and efficient, then we have an obligation to do so. This is one of my specific responsibilities that I'm carrying through and that I report on each year to the Senedd.