, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I think you are absolutely spot on with that. It is a completely unsatisfactory way of having reviews that directly affect devolved Governments. If we had the inter-governmental relations review completed and the systems up in place, I suspect this might well…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
What I can say, of course, is that we have asked for a meeting with UK Government in order to discuss the review. I understand that that is going to take place in the first half of October, and I think probably they'll be in a position to perhaps provide more…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, officials are certainly aware that Lord Frost was going to be making an announcement and that would cover opportunities for regulatory reform and, indeed, the review of EU law, but we weren't given any indication of the precise timing or the…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I think it will ultimately be the Ministers and the way in which they report. I think the scrutiny at committees is absolutely fundamental. The role of our parliamentary committees is really the core of the way in which Parliament works and the way in…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, stakeholder engagement is fundamentally important, particularly in a lot of the new processes and the agreements and the regulatory frameworks with regard to the post-Brexit situation. Each individual Minister will have the responsibility for ensuring…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I think the mechanisms are there in the sense that there was very close analysis of what is happening both at EU level, what is happening in terms of the trade and co-operation agreement, but also in terms of our own legislation. One of the things we are…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
To be honest, the only criteria we have is that we proceed with legislation on the basis of the powers that we have. We don't start looking to whether we can or can't do something, we basically look at what is our competence in this area, and if we can…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, that is an area that is of concern to me, that when we have had—I've been involved in the process of negotiation over very complex areas of legislation, common interest, from wherever it has arisen. I suppose the temptation is to have red lines in…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, the capacity to legislate is an issue, you're right. If we had an unlimited capacity, then we would, basically, in every single area, probably be wanting to legislate ourselves. Of course, there may be legislation where there are aspects that we can…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I missed the beginning of it.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, there are aspects of legislation that do increase Welsh Ministers' powers, and that's one of the issues that we have to consider. I just think, in the nature of legislation that comes forward, it is not all one way. So, sometimes there's a balancing act…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, at the moment, the way in which they are being dealt with is by means of direct official-to-official engagement, but then also followed through by quadrilateral and bilateral meetings—so, meetings between myself and the Minister direct, and we've had a…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I think this is a sort of moving feast at the moment, because what is happening is that we have an enormous amount of legislation, as you mentioned. We are identifying those particular areas, so we're in the early stages. And you'll know that six or…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, one of my functions as Minister for the Constitution is that I chair the Cabinet sub-committee on the legislative programme. And one of the responsibilities of that sub-committee is of course the devolution integrity, the overall picture in terms of…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
I have real concerns about the diversity of the ways in which that legislation may either complement or encroach on devolved responsibilities, and we do see an inconsistency in approach. In some legislation, for example, the Sewel convention, whereby UK…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I said that our aspiration and our guiding principle is that, as far as devolved Welsh responsibilities are concerned, any legislation relating to those should be in Wales. It should be bilingual. It should, as far as possible, fit within our programme…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
That is our guiding principle. That is what we commit to doing as far as is practicable within the circumstances.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Scrutiny session with the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
No, I think that is the team for today.
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
Thank you for those comments and for those sentiments, and it's always a pleasure to hear someone quoting about the Magna Carta and about sovereignty and the origins of sovereignty. I notice where the Llywydd sits, there is the mace, the symbol of…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
Well, thank you for those comments. And, of course, it's not through my work, it's going to be through our and many other people's work that success will be achieved. Just commenting on Elystan Morgan, I had the great honour of actually working with Elystan…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
Thank you for the question. I have to say, I wasn't quite sure what the question was within that. I was grateful for the comments you made about Wales leading the way, and I think you were mentioning the issue of Senedd reform as well, which is an issue…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
I thank Mike for those comments. They are very pertinent comments. He's absolutely right; people clearly do, when you ask them about devolution, want decision-making processes as close to them as possible and to know that they can have the opportunity to…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
I thank the Member for his comments. He's absolutely right that those of us with legal backgrounds like to indulge in the minutiae of constitutions and legal niceties. Important as they are within the operation of a parliament, and particularly a legislature…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
Well, can I thank Darren Millar for the very positive and the very constructive statement he's made, and a lot of very valid questions that have been asked? The issue of reform and the delivery of services, which is an issue that frequently gets raised within…
, Plenary
Statement by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution: Convention on our Constitutional Future
Diolch, Llywydd. In May, we secured a mandate from the Welsh people to deliver our manifesto, committed to creating a stronger, greener and a fairer Wales. In our programme for government we have outlined our plans for tackling the ongoing challenges…
