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Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill

2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd on 25 January 2023.

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Photo of Rhys ab Owen Rhys ab Owen Plaid Cymru

(Translated)

7. What legal advice has the Counsel General provided to the Welsh Government regarding the impact of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill on the Welsh public sector? OQ58986

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 2:59, 25 January 2023

I think that Member might have heard some of the comments I just made.

Photo of Rhys ab Owen Rhys ab Owen Plaid Cymru

Yes, I did.

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour

I'm happy to go straight into the Member's supplementary question.

Photo of Rhys ab Owen Rhys ab Owen Plaid Cymru

Diolch yn fawr. I'm not quite sure why those hadn't been grouped together. Of course, this Bill does extend to Wales and, as you suggested, grants sweeping powers to the Secretary of State in Whitehall. At length in the previous Bill, safety was discussed; well, safety has been removed completely. Public safety has been removed completely from this Bill. A Secretary of State sitting in Whitehall could stop a strike because of the impact it has on the rush hour in Cardiff, or could prevent a strike because it possibly might lead to hospital appointments being cancelled or could lead to classes being disrupted. Basically, in effect, a Secretary of State sitting in Whitehall could stop all future strikes here in Wales. So, what discussions have you had with the UK Government to ensure that the criteria for the minimum service levels will still allow effective striking to happen in Wales? Diolch yn fawr.

Photo of Mick Antoniw Mick Antoniw Labour 3:00, 25 January 2023

Thank you, again, for the question. Representations have already been made. You'll be aware that I am—and, indeed, the First Minister is—very much on the record in a similar tone. It will be raised at future meetings that will be taking place. But, of course, in terms of the UK Government, I have to say, on this Bill, we have had no engagement. There has been no consultation, no engagement with the Welsh Government whatsoever on this.

It's worth also saying, on the point you raised about safety, that there is no impact assessment with this Bill yet. There was an impact assessment on the original one, the transport minimal service levels Bill, but, of course, they probably didn't want to go down the road of the impact assessment this time, because the last impact assessment basically said the likely consequence would be there would probably be an increase in forms of industrial action short of a strike. So, we wait and see what might appear then and what might happen to this Bill, and if it does go through, what may then happen in terms of any potential legal challenges. Again, what I can say is that I will ensure that, if there are valid legal interests that we have, and powers I have as Counsel General in terms of intervention, that is something I will give very serious consideration to.

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