National Assembly for Wales

Welcome to this virtual meeting of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee. The meeting is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv, and the Record of Proceedings will be published as usual. Aside from the procedural adaptations for conducting proceedings in a virtual format, all other Standing Order requirements continue. Please can Members ensure that all mobile devices are switched to silent. A reminder that we are bilingual, so people may speak through the medium of English or Welsh, and interpretation is available during today's meeting. Members are reminded that the sound operator is controlling the microphones and, as such, you do not need to mute and unmute yourselves during the public meeting.

That takes us on to item 2, instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.2 or 21.3. Affirmative resolution instruments—do you want to talk us through them, Gareth?

If I could pass over to Kate.

Thank you. We identified seven technical and two merits reporting points on this instrument. Of the seven technical points, four relate to potentially defective drafting and three are matters that require further explanation from the Welsh Government, but all of them are essentially raising issues around the clarity of the regulations. The first merits point is drawing Members' attention to matters that may be of interest to the committee, in particular the regulations in part are implementing recommendations of a Senedd committee, and then the second merits point is just identifying potential confusion in the title of the regulations. We're still waiting for Welsh Government's response to these reporting points, and we'll bring the Welsh Government response to a future meeting for you to consider.

Thank you very much. Have any Members got any comments? No. 

On to item 2.2, the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Devolved Welsh Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2024—draft report. Who's going to speak on that? 

I can take you through that, if that's helpful. This is an Order that is amending the list of Welsh devolved authorities in the Government of Wales Act. We've identified two technical and one merits reporting point on this. The first technical point notes that the Order is in English only, and that's because it's an Order in Council and it's got to be approved by the Senedd and by the UK Parliament. The second technical point identifies an issue with the headnote. And then the merits reporting point is to note that the Order requires the approval of both Houses of the UK Parliament, as well as the Senedd, and although the draft was laid before the UK Parliament on 21 May, it hadn't been approved before the dissolution of Parliament on 30 May in preparation for the general election. And so the merits reporting point is asking Welsh Government for an update on the future of this draft Order and, in particular, when it might be debated in the UK Parliament, but acknowledging that such an update will probably need to wait until after the general election. We're waiting for Welsh Government's response to these points.

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

On to item 3, notifications and correspondence under the inter-institutional relations agreement. We have notifications and correspondence received in accordance with the inter-institutional relations agreement. Item 3.1 is correspondence from the Welsh Government's inter-ministerial group meetings—paper 4. Does anybody want to say anything, before I bring Members in? No. Over to Members. We understand the Counsel General will provide an update—[Interruption.]—in due course. Sorry, Alun. 

I said I'm content. I have no point to make.

Item 4 is papers to note. We have a paper to note on correspondence between the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee and the UK Government on the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill. The letter predates the calling of the UK general election. The Bill fell at dissolution. So, really, there's nothing we can do, is there? No.

Item 4.2, a written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office on the UK Government’s legislative programme. Written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for finance. At item 4.2, we have a written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office in relation to the UK Government's legislative programme. As we discussed in our meeting last week, the written statement confirms that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill and the Victims and Prisoners Bill both received Royal Assent on 24 May, and that the Welsh Government would share further information with the Senedd in due course. This is something you asked for, Alun. Are you content?

Yes. Sorry, yes, I nodded. Sorry.

Sam, are you happy? Yes, okay.

Item 4.3 is a written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act and the Renters (Reform) Bill. Written statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning, 6 June. It's linked to the previous item; we have a written statement by the Cabinet Secretary.

The Cabinet Secretary states that it is 'regrettable'  that the expedited passage of the Bill meant that it was passed without the opportunity for the Senedd to consider legislative consent, and without the amendments she was seeking to delegate further powers to the Welsh Ministers. However, she also states that the passing of the Bill enables the delivery of many benefits, including the Welsh Government’s programme for government commitment to enact the recommendations of the Law Commission relating to leasehold reform. The Cabinet Secretary also notes that the Renters (Reform) Bill was not included in the wash-up, and so has fallen. The Cabinet Secretary states that she is considering options on how the Welsh Government can now make legislative provision to prevent landlords operating 'blanket bans' on renting to households with children or people in receipt of benefits. Can we defer any discussion on that to the private session? Yes.

That takes us on to item 5, a motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting. Yes? Are we happy with that? Yes.