Meeting Venue:
Meeting date: 22 November 2022
Meeting time: 09.00 - 09.51
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Category |
Names |
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Committee Members: |
Elin Jones MS, Llywydd (Chair) Lesley Griffiths MS Darren Millar MS Siân Gwenllian MS |
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Committee Staff: |
Graeme Francis (Clerk) Aled ap Neill (Deputy Clerk) |
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Others in attendance |
Jane Dodds MS David Rees MS, Deputy Presiding Officer Manon Antoniazzi, Chief Executive and Clerk Siwan Davies, Director of Senedd Business Siân Wilkins, Head of Chamber and Committee Service Julian Luke, Head of Policy and Legislation Committee Service, Head of Policy and Legislation Committee Service Helen Carey, Welsh Government Matthew Richards, Head of Legal Services Anna Daniel, Head of Strategic Transformation Richard Thomas, Strategic Transformation Tom Jackson, Welsh Government |
1 Introductions, apologies and substitutions
The Llywydd welcomed Members to the meeting.
2 Minutes of the previous meeting
The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed for publication.
3 Organisation of Business
3.1 This week's business
Tuesday
There are no changes to this week’s government business. The Trefnydd informed the committee that she will answer questions on behalf of the First Minister today.
3.2 Three week timetable of Government Business
The Trefnydd drew Business Managers’ attention to the following changes:
Tuesday 29 November
· Motion to vary the order of consideration of Stage 3 amendments to The Environmental Protection (Single-Use Plastics) (Wales) Bill (5 mins)
Tuesday 6 December
· Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Climate Change – Final Statement for Carbon Budget 1 (30 mins)
3.3 Three week timetable of Senedd Business
Business Committee agreed to the following additions to the timetable:
Wednesday 14 December 2022
4 Legislation
4.1 Update on LCMs
Business Committee considered an update from the Trefnydd and agreed to:
4.2 Paper to note - letter from the Chair of the Finance Committee to the First Minister regarding the scrutiny of the financial implications of Bills
Business Committee noted the letter.
5 Senedd Reform
5.1 Consideration of Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform's Recommendations - decision update
Business Committee returned to consideration of two recommendations made by the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform:
1. The size of the Welsh Government in a larger Senedd
The Committee agreed to defer further discussion of this matter to the following meeting.
2. The number of Deputy Presiding Officers in a larger Senedd
Further to the conclusion reached at the previous meeting - that Senedd Reform legislation should amend the current statutory provisions in the Government of Wales Act 2006 to provide for a revised limit of two Deputy Presiding Officers - Business Committee agreed that the legislation should require that Members elected to the roles of Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer should represent at least two party groups. The Committee also concluded that the legislation should state that, when the Senedd elects two Deputy Presiding Officers, these office holders should represent three different parties, where possible.
A majority of the Business Committee agreed to conclude that the legislation should amend the titles ‘Presiding Officer’ and ‘Deputy Presiding Officer’ to ‘Speaker’ and ‘Llywydd’, and ‘Deputy Speaker’ and ‘Dirprwy Lywydd’, subject to the Welsh Government giving consideration to whether the Senedd has legislative competence to do this. Siân Gwenllian and Jane Dodds noted that they favoured the use of ‘Llywydd’ and ‘Dirprwy Llywydd’ only in the legislation.
5.2 Development of common assumptions
Business Committee considered a paper consulting it on a number of assumptions that will underpin the information to be provided by the Senedd Commission to inform the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Senedd Reform Bill. The Committee agreed that further consideration should be given to assumptions around the possible number of committees in a larger Senedd. They also agreed that the assumptions and information which will be presented around Parliamentary activity should outline the range of activity carried out by the Senedd. They requested that a further paper be produced for discussion at a future meeting.