Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru

No apologies have been received today. Adam Price will be representing our committee between 2 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. at the justice evidence session that the Equality and Social Justice Committee are holding virtually with Lord Timpson, the UK Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending.

As a reminder, the meeting is being broadcast live on Senedd.tv, and the record of proceedings will be published as usual. Please can Members ensure that all mobile devices are switched to silent mode? Senedd Cymru operates through both the mediums of English and Welsh languages. Interpretation is available during today's 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. The Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. These regulations introduce an additional in-service training day for the 2025-26 school year to help schools prepare for key education reforms. These reforms focus on reducing the impact of poverty on student achievement, implementing the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018, and updating the curriculum and assessment arrangements. Senedd lawyers have identified one merits reporting point. A Welsh Government response is not required. We have Jen from our legal team. Would you like to run through the reporting point, Jen?

Thank you, Chair. It's just one merits reporting point, which highlights the potential impact of an additional INSET day for children and families. Further detail of that impact is already set out in the regulatory impact assessment for the regulations, which is why no Welsh Government response has been requested.

Thank you. Any Members want to raise anything? No.

Item 3, instruments that raise issues to be reported to the Senedd under Standing Order 21.2 or 21.3 previously considered. The committee considered these instruments at its meeting on 7 July and laid its reports the same day. Members are invited to note the Welsh Government responses to the reports, which have since been received. Jen, do you have anything to raise from the Welsh Government's responses?

Thank you, Chair. Just to flag in particular, there is a response in relation to the reporting point on the Infrastructure Consent (Pre Application and Application Procedure and Transitional Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025, where it was queried whether the instrument was validly made. The Government has come back and confirmed that the inclusion of section 132(2) of the Infrastructure (Wales) Act 2024 was an error, and the regulations don't include any provision under that section. Therefore, the negative procedure is the correct procedure for those regulations.

In relation to the three sets of regulations more generally, the Government has confirmed that a correcting instrument will be presented before the regulations come into force in December 2025 for the majority of the points raised.

Thank you, Jen. Have Members got anything to raise? No.

That takes us on to item 3.4, the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Wales) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2025. The committee considered this instrument at its meeting on 7 July and laid its report the same day. Members are invited to note the Welsh Government response to the report. Jen, do you have anything to raise from the Welsh Government's response?

Just to note that the Welsh Government has confirmed that it considers the preamble is sufficiently clear that the conditions that must be met for these regulations to be made have been complied with. However, despite that, they will seek to correct the preamble via a correction slip.

Thanks, Jen. Have Members got anything they want to raise? No.

Affirmative resolution instruments. Can we group items 3.5 and 3.6, as they are related? Item 3.5, the Infrastructure Consent (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Wales) Regulations 2025, and the Infrastructure Consent (Fees) (Wales) Regulations 2025, Welsh Government response. The committee also considered these instruments at its meeting on 7 July and laid its reports the same day. Members are invited to note the Welsh Government responses to the reports, which have since been received. Jen, do you have anything to raise from the Welsh Government responses?

Thank you, Chair. Just to again note that, for the majority of the points that were raised, the Government has confirmed that it will use the correction prior to making procedure to rectify the issues noted.

Thank you, Jen. Have Members got anything to raise? No.

Item 3.7, the Welsh Elections Financial Assistance Scheme (Disabled Candidates) Regulations 2025. Finally in this section, the committee also considered this instrument at its meeting on 7 July 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. Again, just to confirm that the Welsh Government will use the correction prior to making procedure again to ensure that any payments can be made for approved adjustments as well as approved support under the financial assistance scheme.

Thank you. Members, anything to raise? No.

On to notifications and correspondence under the inter-institutional relations agreement. Correspondence from the Welsh Government, meetings of inter-ministerial groups: we have a number of notifications this week of inter-ministerial group meetings taking place. Firstly, a letter and written statement from the Deputy First Minister in relation to a meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which took place on 23 June. The next meeting is scheduled for 8 September. Next, we have a letter from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language in relation to a meeting of the Finance: Interministerial Standing Committee, which took place on 26 June. Then we have a letter and written statement from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip informing us that a meeting of the Interministerial Group for Work and Pensions took place on 26 June. Finally, we have a letter from the Minister for Culture, Skills and Social Partnership informing us that the Culture and Creative Industries Inter-Ministerial Group will meet on 16 July. Have Members got any comments? No.

On to papers to note. Correspondence to the Welsh Government, Environment (Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets) (Wales) Bill. Members are invited to note the outgoing correspondence from the Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee, as well as from us, to the Deputy First Minister, following up on our respective evidence sessions on this Bill. When we receive the responses in the autumn term, they will be brought to committee for consideration. Do Members have any comments they wish to make at this stage? We'll move on to the next item. [Interruption.] Sorry.

I've read the response from the Deputy First Minister. What this doesn't really set out is the way in which all the different pieces of legislation are proposed to work together. I asked for a note on the interrelationship of different pieces of legislation from the Deputy First Minister, and I'm concerned—and, Gareth, I'd like your advice on this, if possible—. This committee has a clear role in terms of the structures and operation of Government, in terms of the constitution and how Government operates. My concern is that this piece of legislation is delivering more confusion and complexity in an already crowded field. I'm interested as to how this committee may respond to that, if this committee feels that there is increasing complexity in this field.

Any comments, Gareth?

Thank you, Chair. Yes, if I may, these are the letters to the DFM. We haven't as yet had the response, so I hope that the points that you've raised you feel are covered in those letters. If not, we can perhaps have a chat in private and consider whether there's any additional correspondence that might need to go forward. 

Are you happy with that, Alun? Okay. Thank you very much.

Correspondence from the Welsh Government, the Welsh Government's response to the committee's reports on the Welsh Government's legislative consent memorandum and supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. We have received a response from the Welsh Government to the committee’s report on the legislative consent memorandum and the supplementary legislative consent memorandum on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. The committee is considering a draft report on memorandum No. 3 in private session later this afternoon. Do Members have anything else they want to add at this stage? If not, we’ll move on to the next item.

Correspondence from the Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Housing, the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2025. Members are invited to note the letter from the Cabinet Secretary in relation to the suspension of Standing Orders to enable these regulations to be debated in Plenary tomorrow. The regulations are expected to be laid today—anything you can tell us, Gareth, about that—which means the Senedd is therefore being asked to pass regulations that have not been scrutinised. Gareth, do you have anything to tell us? And Members, do you have any comments to make? Over to you first, Gareth.

As far as I'm aware, Chair, those regulations have not yet been laid.

Any Members? I think that the way things are done should give us time to look at them. Now, if we had had them on Friday, we could have dealt with them as an urgent item today, and we could have come to some conclusion on it. It wouldn't have been perfect, but it would be far, far better than the position we're in at the moment, where they'll be laid after we've had our meeting. Any other Members' comments? No.

Okay, that takes us on to item 6, a motion under Standing Order 17.42. I invite the committee to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting. Do Members agree? Yes. Thank you.