Draft Government of Wales Act 2006 (Amendment) Order 2021

Ben Lake Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 General Committees

[Ben Lake (Ceredigion) (PC)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Miller, and thank you for calling me to contribute a few very brief remarks this afternoon. I begin by expressing my very sincere condolences to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (Gerald Jones); I hope the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth will pass those sentiments on to him and his family.

I echo many of the points that have already been made this afternoon. The co-operation between the UK and Welsh Governments represented by this order is to be welcomed. I urge the UK Government to reflect on what can be achieved, I suppose, when working with the devolved Governments. The hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth referred to the example of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020; I would argue that perhaps that is an example of what not to do, and this order is an example of what to do.

We will not oppose this order, but I would be grateful if the Minister could offer some clarification on a few points. In a letter sent to the Chair of the Senedd’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee back in January, the Counsel General Jeremy Miles stated that the Welsh Government are in discussions with the UK Government on bringing forward a further Order in Council under section 109 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, to make equivalent provision for concurrent functions under the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020. I ask the Minister to clarify what progress has been made in that regard and whether the discussions have touched upon the question of future-proofing.

By future-proofing, I mean placing provisions in any proposed new order to carve out concurrent functions created under all future Acts of the UK Parliament. Of course, given when the Government of Wales Act 2017 was introduced, it would have been impossible to envisage that a significant number of additional concurrent functions would have been created. As such, it might be reasonable to explore ways of future-proofing any new order in that regard.

Turning briefly to the carve-outs in the order under discussion, they apply only where the Senedd seek to remove the function of a Minister of the Crown, but I wonder whether the Minister can help me in explaining this: in a scenario whereby a Senedd wish to modify those functions, will these consent requirements still apply? In particular, I seek clarification on whether his counterparts in the Senedd have raised any concerns that the Welsh Government will still require consent to modify concurrent functions.

Finally, the Minister and the Opposition spokesperson mentioned the Fisheries Act 2020. As Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist told Peers in the other place, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has committed to undertake a further review of the concurrent fisheries functions. I welcome the Minister’s comments that progress is being made on that.

May I also ask what further consideration has been given to the Environment Bill and whether there will be a need for any further carve-outs in that regard? I would appreciate it if the Minister could update the Committee on what progress, if any, has been made to date and, if not, what he foresees the way forward being on the Environment Bill. I am grateful to you for allowing me to speak, Mrs Miller. Again, my sincere condolences to the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. Diolch.