, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
We always go through the balance, obviously. So, we always look to see whether it's proportionate, there's a public interest consideration, that the impact on any individual business is proportionate and just considering the outcome, and we've come to the…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Yes, thank you very much. Obviously, the purpose of the Bill is to protect the environment by tackling the negative impacts from plastic pollution on our environment, on our wildlife, and our health and well-being. We're satisfied the Bill is compatible with…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Yes.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Thank you very much, Huw, diolch yn fawr. Yes, of course, we're satisfied that the Bill is within the Senedd's competence, and we're very pleased to say that that's also the Llywydd's assessment.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
We just don't think it will be necessary to do that. We're going to do a behaviour and engagement change programme with local government. We're working very closely with the WLGA and, using our carrier bag example, we think that it will not be necessary. But…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, I think I answered this when I was talking to Ken, Janet.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
It is just to do with the internal logic of the list, and to make sure that the list is the same, regardless of what you're talking about.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
No, it's correct. I'm going to bring Nick in to explain it in glorious legal detail, Chair, but, basically, the exemption provides that cups or takeaway food containers that are not made of expanded or foamed extruded polystyrene are exempt. So, that means…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
No, I haven't answered this one yet, Ken. As I say, it remains our view that the Senedd's competence to legislate is not limited by the Bill, but we do recognise that the internal market Act allows the Secretary of State to ask the Office for the Internal…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, there are a number of options open to us for this. The Counsel General has the power to refer a Bill to the Supreme Court under section 112 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. The decision to exercise that power will be taken by the Counsel General in…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, section 3 of the Bill provides Welsh Ministers with the regulation-making power to add further items to the table in Schedule 1 of the Bill, as we've discussed all the way through this session. And since the Senedd can confer a power on the Welsh…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Well, same answer, I'm afraid. We don't think we require the exclusion. We can ban lids for cups or takeaway food containers because it's within our devolved competence to do so, and the Act doesn't bite.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Same answer—none—because we don't think it bites, basically.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, we don't consider we need exclusions from the UK internal market Act for all the reasons I've just set out, so we're not relying on the statutory instrument that excluded certain single-use plastic products in the UK internal market Act. We say that we…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Very straightforwardly, Janet, because we think the Senedd's competence to legislate about devolved matters is not limited by the UK internal market Act, because we take the view that it cannot limit the devolution settlement, and therefore it doesn't impact…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, that’s a very, very good question, of course. In terms of enforcement tools, the committee will be aware that section 6 of the Bill makes the offence under section 5 a summary offence, triable in a magistrates’ court, and there’s an unlimited fine that’s…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, indeed. We take a very firm view that the Bill is within the Senedd's competence; the Llywydd has made that assessment as well. The committee will have seen the Counsel General's written statement on 18 August that the Supreme Court rejected our…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, absolutely. I touched a little bit on this when I was answering Joyce's question, didn't I? The first product that we're going to be applying the principles of extended producer responsibility to is, obviously, packaging waste. I know the committee has…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, absolutely, Ken. We've had a lot of conversations with our local authorities about this. These enforcement duties are very closely related to the enforcement duties that they already have; they have a large number already of environmental…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
I'm being reminded by one of my officials that on the list is glitter and plastic coat-hangers—they were very high up the list as well. I ought to have remembered that. Large numbers of schoolchildren—I have to say, I really love talking to schoolchildren…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
So, what we've done is, rather than make a whole new regime of reporting, we've added the requirement under section 79(2) of the Government of Wales Act 2006, so that Welsh Ministers are required to report on the consideration as to whether they plan to add…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Yes, absolutely, Joyce, and we've been working very hard with the group Size of Wales, actually, on making sure that, for example, Wales doesn't deforest other parts of the world by relying on products from elsewhere on the planet in substitute for our own…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
We've looked a lot at alternatives—so, compostable paper straws, cardboard balloon sticks, paper plates, wooden cutlery, bamboo cotton buds—and all of those have been widely available in the market for a very, very long time. There are lots of other…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Draft Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic) Bill - evidence session with the Minister for Climate Change
Gian Marco, probably, is it?
