Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee

Instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.2 or 21.3. The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2025, draft report. These regulations amend various regulations that make provision about, and in connection with, student finance. Amongst other things, the regulations extend eligibility for support, home fee status and the tuition fee cap to certain persons who become settled in the UK, and Ukrainian nationals and their families under the Ukraine permission extension scheme. Senedd lawyers have identified one merits reporting point. A Welsh Government response has been requested. Kate, would you like to take us through the reporting point?

Thank you. The merits reporting point notes that, as set out in the explanatory memorandum, the regulations make corrections in response to this committee's report on the Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) (Wales) Regulations 2023. However, the Welsh Government is asked whether the regulations also make corrections in response to the committee's report on the equivalent 2024 regulations, which raised similar issues arising from the same historical error, and we're just waiting for the Welsh Government to respond to that point.

Okay. Do Members have anything to add? No.

Affirmative resolution instruments: the Social Care Wales (Specification of Social Care Workers) (Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, paper 3 in the draft report. These regulations amend the 2016 regulations to specify an additional description of social care workers in respect of which Social Care Wales must keep a register. Senedd lawyers have identified one merits reporting point. A Welsh Government response has not been requested. Kate, would you like to run through the reporting point?

The merits point here is just to note that, in the Minister’s declaration in the explanatory memorandum, the Minister’s name and title are incorrect, but, after receiving the draft report, the Welsh Government have withdrawn that explanatory memorandum and they've relaid a corrected version.

Yes, it's a good job we're here to help them. Do any Members want to add anything? No.

The Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2025. These regulations amend the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2024, including to deal with ensuring that updates can be made to the threshold figures that will apply to contracting authorities that are, or are treated as, devolved Welsh authorities, additions and amendments to the UK’s international obligations regarding procurement, and matters that were raised in a previous report of this committee and subsequent correspondence relating to the 2024 regulations.

Senedd lawyers have identified one technical and three merits points. A Welsh Government response has been requested. Kate, would you like to go through the reporting points?

The technical reporting point identifies some potentially defective drafting in relation to defined terms in a new regulation that's being inserted into the 2024 regulations.

The first merits point notes that the regulations are amending the 2024 regulations to address issues raised in this committee’s report on those regulations, in particular around the use of outdated names for bodies such as the Senedd Commission. In previous correspondence with the committee, the Welsh Government raised some concerns that changing the names could have an impact on compatibility with international obligations. So, the draft report asks the Welsh Government to provide an update on its determination that it is now appropriate to make these changes.

The second merits point is just noting that the regulations will amend amendments to the 2023 Act, which are contained in UK regulations that are currently before the UK Parliament in draft form.

And then the final merits point is just to note that no consultation has been carried out in relation to these regulations for the reasons set out in the explanatory memorandum, and we're waiting for the Welsh Government to respond to the first two reporting points only.

Thank you. Do Members have anything to add? No. Are we happy to agree the reporting points? Yes.

The Land Transaction Tax (Modification of Relief for Acquisitions Involving Multiple Dwellings) (Wales) Regulations 2025. These regulations amend the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 to limit the availability of multiple dwelling relief from land transaction tax in certain circumstances where the subsidiary dwelling exception applies. Senedd lawyers have identified one merits reporting point. A Welsh Government response has not been requested. Kate, would you like to take us through the reporting point?

The merits point is simply noting that land transaction tax collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority is paid into the Welsh consolidated fund.

Item 4, instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.2 or 21.3—previously considered. The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Prescribed Requirements and Default Scheme) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2025. The committee considered and laid its report in relation to this instrument on 13 January 2025. We considered the Welsh Government’s response to the points raised in our report on 20 January 2025, and agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language to highlight our concerns about the Welsh Government’s planned corrections to the errors in the draft regulations that we identified in our report. The letter to the Cabinet Secretary is included in our papers today, for the formal record. During the debate last Tuesday, the Cabinet Secretary indicated that he would be writing. We will return to this matter when that correspondence arrives. Okay? Happy with that?

Item 4.2, the Feed Additives (Authorisations) and Uses of Feed Intended for Particular Nutritional Purposes (Amendment of Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/354) (Wales) Regulations 2024. The committee considered this instrument at its meeting on 6 January 2025 and laid its report the same day. Members are invited to note the Welsh Government response to the report, which has since been received. Kate, do you have anything to raise from the Welsh Government response?

Just to note that the Welsh Government is intending to make a correcting instrument in the first quarter of 2025, which will address seven of the committee's reporting points.

Thank you very much. Are we happy to note the Welsh Government response? Yes.

Correspondence from the Welsh Government: meetings of inter-ministerial groups. Letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning: the Interministerial Group for Trade, 20 January 2025. The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning informs us that a meeting of the Interministerial Group for Trade was taking place on 22 January 2025, and commits to updating us after the meeting. Are Members content to note this letter? Yes.

Item 6, papers to note. Correspondence with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs: legislative consent memoranda on the Water (Special Measures) Bill. This item concerns correspondence with the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs in relation to the Welsh Government’s legislative consent memoranda on the Water (Special Measures) Bill. The debate on the relevant legislative consent motion was held last week and the letter from the Cabinet Secretary was circulated in advance of that debate. If Members are happy to note this letter formally, I suggest we consider the correspondence and matters I raised in the debate in private session. Are we happy?

May I ask, other than the letter itself, has there been any other engagement, because I wasn't clear from the letter how it responds to the questions that we've raised? So, is it just the letter—there hasn't been any other engagement with the committee?

Any comments, Kate? No. Okay. Gareth.

The letter was received before the debate, and circulated, so this is just for the formal record. But there are issues arising from the debate that maybe Members might want to consider, in relation to some points raised by the Chair. But the letter doesn't address those points, no.

Fine. Okay.

It would be good to be able to raise those matters.

The Minister had said, I believe, either during the debate itself or in an informal conversation, that he intended to write to us again to respond to some of the points that we've raised. So, do we expect another letter to tackle some of the points that were raised during the debate?

We would expect a response to the committee's report. I think it might be appropriate for the committee to write back to the Deputy First Minister and seek clarity. But the letter of 20 January states,

'Given there have been amendments tabled for Report Stage in the UK Parliament, I will be laying a further Supplementary Legislative Consent Memorandum in due course and am happy to clarify the position within that'

—in relation to some of the points. So, we're expecting another supplementary consent memorandum to be laid—I'm not sure when—but I think there may be issues from that the committee might wish to consider.

Fine. Okay.

Right. Correspondence from the Scottish Parliament’s Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee: framework legislation and Henry VIII powers. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee writes to express thanks for the evidence provided by the committee, in relation to their inquiry on framework legislation and Henry VIII powers, and note that they will share their report in due course. If Members are content to note this—. Before we move on, I was just going to make a comment that, having talked to them, they had one committee there that had only had one Henry VIII power being used since 2021, which seems entirely at odds with the Welsh Government's use of them.

Correspondence from the Minister for Children and Social Care: Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill. A letter from the Minister for Children and Social Care, 21 January 2025. Members are invited to note the correspondence from the Minister for Children and Social Care, in which she responds to recommendation 24 in our Stage 1 report on the Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill, by providing indicative information regarding the healthcare services where a direct payment could be made in lieu of those services. We also have letters from the Minister to the Health and Social Care Committee and the Finance Committee in response to their Stage 1 reports. Are Members content to note this?

Correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning: the Welsh Government’s legislative consent memorandum on the Great British Energy Bill. Members are invited to note the correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning, in which she provides a response to the issues raised in the committee’s report on the Welsh Government’s legislative consent memorandum on the Great British Energy Bill. Do Members have any comments they wish to make? No.

Can I now move, in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(vi), that I invite the committee to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting? Do Members agree? We now move into private session.