, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I can, but I'm going to ask Neil to do it, I'm afraid. [Laughter.]
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, I think we'd be very keen to hear views from the committee about how to get as many people who might be in an impacted area engaged as possible. So, what would the notification process look like? It has to be proportionate to the cost of the development…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I think that's what we're trying to do through the local impact reports. So, at the moment—. Just to be really clear, at the moment, if you love a planning consent, there's nothing to stop you writing to the local authority saying how much you love it; it's…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Might I suggest, Chair—it's not for me to set your work programme, but I'm more than happy to come and talk to the committee about general planning policy otherwise. Can I just say that this Bill is about the process? So, when somebody gets consent through…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, there are two things there. This Bill is about particular infrastructure developments, which won't fall into that—we're in danger of straying out more widely into the planning system, forgive me. But there are two things there: there are compulsory…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, as Neil has very fairly set out, there's a difference between being heard and having your views taken on board 100 per cent, and to be fair, lots of community groups are heard and their views are partially taken on board. So, I disagree with you about the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, just to be really clear.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
If you own the energy locally, you can use it, if you produce it locally, you can have the benefit of a community benefit fund, but that cannot include cheaper energy.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
They're not allowed to do that, to be fair. [Laughter.]
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, so, for example, part of the end-do-end marine licensing process, we certainly had a look at that—discussed with various groups why they didn't or did put things in at the time. Neil's officials have done that a lot. And I suppose, also, we're going to…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
We're planning to put a prescribed process in place, but, in all honesty, if the committee has any ideas at all about what that should have in it, then we'd be very grateful to receive them. You're taking evidence, I know. There are lots of technologies…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
No, that's a very good question, actually, Delyth, because it does consolidate, if you like, the point in time at which you are able to get involved. For some of the processes we're consolidating, there's no current requirement to consult at all, so, although…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, yes. So what we'll do is we'll work with the local authorities to make sure that, when we put the regulations in place that say what the minimum requirements of an impact report look like, we will have co-produced it with them. But we have a minimum…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
And then, because this will capture developments for marine as well, it's much more complicated than that. So, they'll be required to put in a local impact report and that can be put in by any relevant community councils as well, if they want to do so, and…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
This is very complicated as well, because this, of course, covers marine, as well as land-based issues. We've had a long discussion with local authorities about this, and, again, Neil and colleagues have been 'embroiled'—I think is the word—in discussions…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I seem to spend half my life in meetings with people about grids, overhead lines, et cetera. The officials have met a number of times with National Grid and Scottish Power as well, and that's around the consenting regime for them, and the general network…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I'll defer to Neil in a moment, but just to say, Huw, what we've been trying to do is to make sure that the Bill is sufficiently flexible to be futureproof. Much of the discussion that you're talking about there has been not really to shape the Bill any…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
The vast majority of people who responded were very much in support of the proposals, and effectively saying how we started this meeting, which is, 'Why not just get on with it?' So, they weren't looking for changes so much as speed, really. Some of the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
As always when we look at human rights, we look to see whether what we're doing is proportionate, justified and reasonable. It's the same mantra every time—whether we've got the balance of rights right between individual rights and the public interest. So…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I think there's a real serious risk of developers just going somewhere else, because if we can't speed up the system, then it takes a lot of time and effort to get particular things in place. The committee may well be thinking of a renewable developer, for…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
It's just about the resource available and the number of experts that we need for this particular Bill whose expertise was also required for a number of other things, like the European Union exit arrangements, and so on. And in the end, we've only got so many…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Diolch, Cadeirydd. We've been preparing for a very long time this very large and very technical Bill and the explanatory memorandum for introduction to the Senedd. It's been a long time coming, so my thanks to the team of people who've been doing all of that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
You're testing my Welsh now.
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
I'm really sorry, Peredur, but I absolutely can't comment on an ongoing litigation matter, particularly in view of comments you're making about the legal opinions being expressed. I'm sure, Llywydd, at some point, we'll be able to debate it properly, but I'm…
, Plenary
Questions to the Minister for Climate Change
Thank you, Peredur. An appeal has been submitted, and therefore it's very important that I do not say anything that could lead to a future legal challenge in response to any decision by Welsh Ministers in respect of this case, I'm afraid.
