Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee

Yes, if I can just take you quickly through the points. So, we have received a Welsh Government response today. The technical point was seeking further explanation from Welsh Government about one the provisions that hadn't been moved from the 2010 regulations into the 2011 Measure, and in response, Welsh Government confirms that that will continue to have effect through the Measure rather than through the regulations.

And the merits point was asking Welsh Government to confirm whether or not a regulatory impact assessment has been carried out, because there was conflicting information in the explanatory memorandum and in the explanatory note. In response, Welsh Government has confirmed that it's the explanatory memorandum that's correct. There has not been a regulatory impact assessment and that's for the reasons given in paragraph 6.1 of the explanatory memorandum.

Thank you very much. Do any Members want to make any comments? No. Are we happy to agree the reporting points? Yes. Thank you very much.

Affirmative resolution instruments, SL(6)493, the Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2024. These regulations provide additional details and requirements that are necessary to ensure the functioning of the Procurement Act 2023. Senedd lawyers have identified 11 technical reporting points, and two merits reporting points. A Welsh Government response has been received. Does our legal team have any issues to highlight arising from the draft report and Welsh Government response? Yes.

Yes. If I could just draw a couple of points to your attention in relation to the response. So, firstly, in response to four of the technical points, Welsh Government intends to make amending regulations in the autumn ahead of these regulations coming into force. So, the effect of that is that the regulations will be correct at the time that they take effect, but Members may just wish to note that it does mean that the Senedd will still be asked to vote on this draft, which continues to contain those defects for now.

The second point to note relates to Welsh Government's responses to reporting points 10 and 11, which raise some questions. Both of these points relate to references to bodies listed in these regulations. Point 10 was asking Welsh Government for clarification about the meaning of 'NHS bodies', given that NHS trusts and local health boards are listed separately, so it isn't completely clear what this additional term is supposed to cover.

And then point 11 noted that certain bodies are referred to by outdated names, and the most obvious example of this is the reference to the National Assembly for Wales Commission. Welsh Government's response deals with both of those points together. The response does not answer the question about the meaning of 'NHS bodies', and in relation to the outdated names, Welsh Government says that they were advised by the UK Government that names could not be changed.

So, this raises a question of whether it's entirely appropriate for Welsh Government to be taking direction from the UK Government about the content of a Welsh statutory instrument. The powers in the 2023 Act are conferred on the Welsh Ministers, so we would suggest that it's for the Welsh Ministers to decide how to exercise those powers and it would therefore be helpful to understand why, in this case, Welsh Government thought they needed to take this advice from the UK Government, particularly in relation to using an incorrect name for the Senedd Commission. So, we would suggest that the committee may want to write to Welsh Government and seek clarity on those points in advance of the debate on these regulations.

Do any Members have any comments or observations? No, okay. Are we happy to agree the reporting points? Yes, great.