Thank you. The first technical reporting point identifies potentially defective drafting under Standing Order 21.2(vi), because there is no express provision for the coming into force of regulation 2(1). In response, the Welsh Government notes the point, but states that it does not consider this to affect the operation of the instrument. In the absence of an express commencement provision, the Welsh Government's view is that regulation 2(1) comes into force, in accordance with the rules of statutory interpretation, on the day that the instrument was made. Members may want to note that, while the Welsh Government is correct about this rule of statutory interpretation, it would clearly have been preferable to make express provision aligning the commencement of the introductory provision, which sets out which piece of legislation is being amended, with the first of the substantive amending provisions that follows it. Relying on a mixture of express commencement and implied rules of statutory interpretation could cause confusion to readers of the legislation, who may not be aware of the rules of statutory interpretation.
Members may also want to note that adopting this interpretation means that one provision of these regulations was enforced before the regulations were laid before the Senedd. The regulations are subject to the annulment procedure and so, in accordance with section 37E of the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, if the instrument is not laid before the Senedd at least 21 days before it comes into force, then the Welsh Ministers must provide an explanation in writing to the Llywydd. This is known as the 21-day rule. The practical effect of regulation 2(1) coming into force in isolation is limited, because, as the Welsh Government have noted, it's an introductory provision. But as a point of principle, it's unfortunate that the solution to the drafting error appears to engage the 21-day rule in relation to these regulations, and so Members may want to write to the Welsh Government to ask whether an explanation will be sent to the Llywydd, as required by section 37E.
The second point seeks further explanation from the Welsh Government under Standing Order 21.2(v) as to how a 'fair market value' will be determined for the purposes of class A and class C exemptions. In response, the Welsh Government explains that the words are intended to have their ordinary meaning, and that what constitutes a fair market value is left to the discretion of the local authority to determine, having regard to the nature and circumstances of properties in its area.
And then finally, the merits point. This is raised under Standing Order 21.3(ii) as a matter of political or legal importance likely to be of interest to the Senedd. The point to note is that regulation 2(2)(c) inserts text into the 2026 regulations that was inadvertently omitted when the 2026 regulations were formatted for making. The explanatory memorandum accompanying the 2026 regulations, when they were laid in draft before the Senedd, noted that the draft had been prepared outside the Welsh Government's statutory instrument software and that minor formatting improvements might take place before the draft was finalised for signing by the Minister. The omission of a provision is not a minor formatting change, and so the report asked the Welsh Government to explain whether this omission has had any practical effect on the application of the relevant exemption. In response, the Welsh Government confirms it does not consider that the omission will have had any practical effect and the exemption will have been applied correctly.
Members may want to note that this reporting point is of importance because the omission of the relevant text from the 2026 regulations took place after the draft was approved by the Senedd, but before it was signed by the Minister. So, essentially, the version of the text that the Senedd approved is not the version that was signed into law, apparently as a result of software issues. Members may also wish to note that a number of statutory instruments were laid in draft before the Senedd around the same time as the 2026 regulations that also contained an explanatory memorandum stating that they'd been prepared outside the SI software. The committee may therefore wish to write to the Government to ask whether these instruments have been reviewed for any similar errors or omissions and just to seek assurances that no other legislative texts approved by the Senedd have been inadvertently changed before being signed into law. So, that's a summary of the report and the response, and some suggestions for you to write.