Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee

Item 3, instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.2 or 21.3, previously considered. The Education (Student Support) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025: the committee considered this instrument at its meeting last Monday, and laid its report the same day. Members are invited to note the Welsh Government's response to the report, which has since been received. Jen, do you have anything to raise from the Welsh Government response?

Thank you, Chair. Just to flag that, because these regulations were laid on 29 August to come into force on 1 September, Members will recall that, because of the short time frame, the report queried when the Welsh Government was made aware of the outcome of the Student Loans Company review, which was the review that identified some courses hadn't been designated, which gave rise to the need for the regulations. The response just confirms that Welsh Government policy officials became aware of the outcome at the beginning of July, and they then proceeded to develop a solution and draft regulations, which had to come into force by 1 September to avoid a detrimental impact on students and providers.

Diolch, Jen. Do any Members want to raise anything? No. Okay.

Item 4, instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.7, previously considered. The code of practice on the exercise of social services functions in relation to Part 4 and Part 5 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014: the committee first considered the code at its meeting on 16 June, and laid its report the same day. The code was subsequently withdrawn by the Welsh Government on 27 June. The Minister’s letter responds to one of our reporting points in which we raised the issue of consultation. The Minister has stated that consultation will now be undertaken with the 22 local authorities, and a revised code will be laid in October. Do Members have any comments? No.

Item 5, notifications and correspondence under the inter-institutional relations agreement. We have a number of notifications in relation to the inter-ministerial group meetings. The first, two cancellations: the Deputy First Minister informs us of the cancellation of both the Interministerial Group for Net Zero, Energy and Climate Change, which was due to take place on 17 September, and the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which was supposed to take place on 8 September.

Next, we have a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, who informs us that a meeting of the Interministerial Group for Health and Social Care is due to take place on 25 September. Do Members have any comments? No.

Item 6, papers to note. Correspondence from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs on the Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill. The Deputy First Minister responds to our letter on 9 July with further information, following the evidence session we held with him on 30 June. Do Members have any comments they wish to make? No.

Correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on a memorandum of understanding between Welsh Ministers and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. It's a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on 16 September. The Cabinet Secretary informs us of the publication of a memorandum of understanding that describes the working relationship between the Welsh Ministers and His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service. Her letter says the memorandum covers offender learning and skills within custody, and sets out how offender learning is to be taken forward in Wales. Do Members have any comments that they wish to make? No.

Correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Planning on the publication of the statement of strategic priorities to Great British Energy. The Cabinet Secretary informs us that she has given her consent for matters within the legislative competence of the Senedd to be included in the UK Government’s statement of strategic priorities to Great British Energy. She states that she was disappointed with the short timescale for consideration, which meant there was no time to invite this committee’s consideration of her decision.

Members will recall that this committee considered the Welsh Government's legislative consent memoranda for the Great British Energy Bill, and raised concerns about the interplay between Great British Energy and Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru. Members may wish to note that the Cabinet Secretary's letter indicates that the Welsh Government considers that Welsh Ministers' consent was required for more matters than were mentioned in the correspondence from the UK Government seeking that consent.

The Cabinet Secretary also highlights that she has requested additional work to identify how Great British Energy will work with the Welsh Government to support delivery of the strategic vision articulated in national, regional and local spatial plans. The Cabinet Secretary has also requested additional work to set out a process that clarifies how Great British Energy activities will be complementary to Welsh policies and delivery processes, as well as to establish a dispute resolution process. The Cabinet Secretary would welcome any views the committee may have on this statement. Do Members have any comments? None at this stage. Thank you.

Correspondence from the Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee on the laying of bilingual statutory instruments. Members are invited to note the response from the Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee in response to our letter seeking further information on the procedural barriers that prevent the laying of bilingual instruments in the UK Parliament. Members will be aware that this is a long-standing issue that we as a committee have been pursuing, to try and enable all statutory instruments to be laid in the Senedd in both official languages. The Chair of the Procedure Committee confirms that bilingual statutory instruments may only be laid in the House of Commons if the relevant Act requires it. This means that without such a requirement instruments will be laid in English only. Members will be aware that the Secretary of State for Wales has expressed a similar view to the Chair of the Procedure Committee. Do Members have any comments they wish to make? No.

On to item 7 and, in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(vi) and (ix), I invite the committee to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting. Do Members agree? Yes. We now move into private session. Thank you.