, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for your question. The Welsh Government took the important step to challenge the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 because it purports to undermine the devolution settlement. The costs incurred by the Welsh Government for doing so are…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I saw some of those events; I saw some of the arrests that took place within London that caused me very serious concerns—concerns because at the same time media were standing up and quite rightly condemning the arrest of people…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. It is vital that people have the right to have their voices heard and express their concerns freely in a safe and peaceful way. I will continue to impress upon the UK Government that Wales's views must be heard in respect of the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Firstly, thank you for the question. Again, it is an important point. Of course, I met with Baroness Hale very recently—in fact, earlier this week. I do welcome the steps that are being taken in the Supreme Court to bring justice closer to the communities it…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I am pleased to note the resumption of Welsh representation on the Supreme Court following the reappointment of Lord Lloyd-Jones last month. I continue to raise the necessity for formal, rather than fortuitous, representation of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. You raise a number of issues that I know are under very serious consideration and, I know, the Minister for Social Justice has been looking at and addressing and working on for a long period of time. The first thing you raised was…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much for your question. We have worked with the criminal justice board for Wales partners to develop the criminal justice anti-racist plan for Wales, which was published in September. This document sets out seven commitments to realise an…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you very much for the question, and you covered a number of areas that we have discussed and debated in this Chamber on many occasions. Would I like to see employment law devolved? I think employment law is moving to a situation where more and more of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. The Welsh Government is committed to working in social partnership with our trade union colleagues. We will continue to do all that we can to support the important work that trade unions undertake on behalf of their members.
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Can I perhaps start with the opening of your question, which is your statement that your committee enjoys heavy workloads, because that is something that will be emerging? It is a serious issue and I think we need to give it some very careful thought. We are…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I thought it was a timely fire alarm. So, there are very significant implications. With respect to the Member, I just want to say this: what you mustn't do is underestimate the actual impact, the actual challenge, the actual demand that this has. I think…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, can I start by saying that I suppose it's very clear that the Member hasn't read the legislation, otherwise she might have more concerns about the way in which it is proceeding? The first part of it is to say that I had meetings with Mr Rees-Mogg before…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for your question. A full copy of the Bill, including new policy content on the sunsetting of retained EU law, was only shared with Welsh Government officials less than 24 hours before its introduction on 22 September. We are giving the Bill due…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, listen, I have said many times, and you've heard me say it as well, about the importance of scrutiny, the importance of the role of your committee, which I think does an incredibly important job in terms of the scrutiny of legislation. You heard me also…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, thank you for the question. I’m glad you’ve had the opportunity to ask it, and the simple answer is: they’re both correct, because there are two aspects to this. One, of course, is that we want to expedite for all the reasons that have been outlined in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I think the postal vote system is certainly one system in a whole variety of ways. One of the advantages to digitisation of the electoral register and having different voting systems is of course that it makes voting more accessible. It makes it more…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
No I don't, and I think your premise is, actually, wrong, because the primary reason was not to suddenly show some significant turnaround in voter turnout, because there have been other, similar pilots around the country from time to time that have also been…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I have already, actually, made a statement on that—a written statement has been issued. It was a statement that, I think, had quite a number of positives, because it showed that many of the technical issues and problems that would…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. I'm aware of the letter that the victims' commissioner, Dame Vera Baird, recently sent. Can I just mention just a couple of points? I think the first one is, in terms of my colleague, the Minister for Social Justice, I know that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. Victims policy remains the responsibility of the UK Government. As a Government, we are committed to improving outcomes for victims in Wales. We believe that every victim should be treated with dignity and respect, and with access…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for that supplementary question. The issue of coroners' courts is an important one, and it's one that I think I've raised in this Chamber several times, but it was also considered in the Thomas commission and is also referred to in 'Delivering…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for your question. I have an introductory meeting with the new Attorney-General soon, and I also hope to meet the Lord Chancellor and Ministry of Justice ministerial team in due course. I will, of course, be making the case for devolution of justice…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill
Well, thank you. That is a really important question, because, you know, we are not in a static environment. It's not about producing a list and then we can all go away and be satisfied that everything is satisfactory. And, of course, your question partly led…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill
Well, listen, thank you for those comments, and perhaps taking from the end part that you raised, of course there were framework discussions, so the internal market Act was never necessary. The whole objective of the frameworks was, basically, a co-operative…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Bill
Thank you for the question. In terms of the issues around the criminal offence and the power for civil sanctions, well, of course, a criminal offence is where someone has created an offence and you are basically penalising or prosecuting them for breaching…
