, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Okay. [Laughter.]
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
That's a good idea. We'll make sure that we don't overstep the mark here and stray into the Counsel General's territory. But there might be a way that we can frame it to you. If we do do any follow-up, it'll be rapidly after this meeting because of the need…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Yes, absolutely.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
Okay. Thank you. Alun.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
I know. [Laughter.] Sometimes, it is difficult, I know. But we'll make sure that it's brought to their attention as well. Okay, that's helpful. Thank you. But clear that those consents will not necessarily derail this—well, clearly, from what you are saying…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
That's fine. I'm sure they'll take note of that.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
That's great. And I assume that the correspondence you're referring to is the correspondence with the CCEI committee rather than ours.
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
That's interesting. Okay, if I could turn to that, then, because you have shared with us your correspondence with the UK Government, including the seeking of necessary UK ministerial consents, which you've just said would be helpful, but don't derail the Bill…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill: Evidence session
In which case we'll move now to item No. 2, the first substantive item on today's agenda, and it is the evidence session on the Infrastructure (Wales) Bill, and we're delighted to have with us Julie James, the Minister for Climate Change, but also with Julie…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Welcome to this afternoon's session of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee. Just as a reminder to everybody, this session is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv. The Record of Proceedings will be published as usual. Now, we're not expecting a…
, Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee
Introductions, apologies, substitutions and declarations of interest
Good afternoon, and welcome to you all.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
Yes, there is, and currently, under the current situation, they can be called in, of course, because there are other significant considerations that make it 'significant'. [Laughter.]
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
Okay, thank you. And I note your comments that this is not a technology area you're expert in, but what I was pushing at was this issue of where there are things that don't, in terms of megawatt capacity, fall within national—. It's not like a nuclear power…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
Thank you, Chair. Do you have any other thoughts you want to share with us on significant infrastructure categories? Maybe I can probe a little bit on the issue of both hydrogen and energy storage, neither of which may be on any grand scale in a particular…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
If there were a duty to engage, that's an interesting departure, but then it's a duty to engage with whom? Because as you rightly say, most people have more sense than to spend their whole time, as I famously do, reading things like LDP plans and so on. But…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
That's really interesting. Just finally, then, on this community consultation and the powers that are within the Bill for the Welsh Ministers to make significant additional provision within secondary legislation. Doesn't this make it harder for people to…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
That's really interesting. Many of these will be projects of significant scale, and developers will constantly say, 'We've still got to protect our margins' and so on. Can I just bounce that to James? Because that's fascinating. It's not necessarily to the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
Okay. Well, any further thoughts you have on how we can front-load that and get that quality of engagement early on would be really good, subsequent, perhaps in writing. Can I just ask, are there any lessons we can learn from England on this at all in what…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Community groups & RTPI Cymru
Thank you, Chair. James, can I just tease out what you said about the—? You mentioned in your evidence the frustrations felt by communities, but isn't the hard reality here that if you have a development, whichever way you define it, that is nationally…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Natural Resources Wales and the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales
That's really helpful, David, thank you very much. Can I just come to NRW for any thoughts they have on this? So, not just the discretion of the Minister, but definitions and thresholds as well, and maybe how this plays out in the marine environment as well.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Natural Resources Wales and the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales
It might be helpful if Ministers, when they come in front of us, could provide some examples, or actually lay that down in writing somewhere during the process of this Bill, to give examples of how they would reach decisions and where they would put that…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure (Wales) Bill - Evidence session with Natural Resources Wales and the National Infrastructure Commission for Wales
Thank you. Just following up on Janet's question, I'll try and bring my questions just into one question. Issues have been raised with us over the clarity of definitions, of what is an SIP. Issues have been raised over the discretion available to…
, Plenary
The Welsh Language Standards (No. 9) Regulations 2023
Now, a member of the public reading these regulations cannot easily identify the bodies that fall within Schedule 4, and whilst we recognise that Schedule 4 replicates indeed the wording in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, and that the bodies falling…
, Plenary
The Welsh Language Standards (No. 9) Regulations 2023
Now, the first of our merits reporting points notes that the meaning of 'body' in these regulations is a person who falls within one or both of the categories of persons listed in Schedule 4. Schedule 4 lists persons who provide water or sewerage services to…
, Plenary
The Welsh Language Standards (No. 9) Regulations 2023
Our report on the regulations contains just two merits points, only one of which required a response from Welsh Government, and I'm very grateful for the response that we received. Now, as the Minister has outlined, these regulations specify the standards in…
