Agenda and minutes

The minutes for the meeting were agreed by the Committee for publication.

Tuesday

The First Minister will be making a statement on EU Transition.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government will be making a statement on the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Bill.

The Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure will be making a statement on Major International Sporting Events.

Voting Time will take place after the last item of business.

Plenary is unlikely to run past 6.05pm.

Wednesday

A motion has been tabled to alter the remit of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee.

Voting Time will take place before the short debate.

Plenary is unlikely to run past 6.40pm.

Voting

On Tuesday, Voting Time would be after the final item of business. On Wednesday Voting Time would take place before the Short Debates.

Business Committee noted the 3 Week Timetable of Government Business.

Business Managers welcomed the scheduling of the first Statement by Committee Chairs, following a letter from the Presiding Officer inviting them to bring these forward.

Business Committee determined the organisation of Assembly business and agreed to schedule the following items of business:

Wednesday 5 October 2016 –

·         Time allocated to Plaid Cymru (60 mins)

·         Time allocated to the Welsh Conservatives (60 mins)

·         Time allocated to the United Kingdom Independence Party (60 mins)

·         Short Debate – Huw Irranca-Davies (Ogmore) (30 mins)

The Committee discussed the paper on the effect of a Member leaving a political group on Committee representation and opposition time in Plenary and agreed that UKIP should nominate a Member to fill the vacancy on EAALC.  David Rowlands informed the committee that their nomination would be Michelle Brown, and the Committee agreed to table a motion under Standing Order 17.3 for consideration on Wednesday.

On the matter of offering Nathan Gill a committee place, Business Managers requested that the Secretariat circulate an information note before the next meeting on precedents in this regard, and on the relationship between Members who do not belong to a political group and the Business Committee.  David Rowlands indicated that UKIP would be willing to give up their seat on the CLA Committee for Nathan Gill.

Business Managers agreed to return to the matter at next week’s meeting.

The Committee agreed to alter the allocation of opposition time from a 5:5:3 to 2:2:1 ratio for Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the UKIP group, and to note the knock-on effect that would have on the Leaders’ and Spokespeople rotation.

The Presiding Officer informed Business Managers of her decision regarding a revised seating plan for the Chamber.

The Committee discussed a letter from the Chair of the Finance Committee requesting a short extension of the proposed deadline for Stage 1 scrutiny of the Bill, with a reporting deadline of 22 December. The Committee agreed a reporting deadline of 22 December for Stage 1 and 3 March for Stage 2.

The Committee discussed the letter from the Chair of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee regarding the Bill, and agreed to write to the Finance Committee for their views on whether they would have the capacity to scrutinise the Bill.

Business Managers discussed a paper on the use of Assembly time in Plenary, and agreed to discuss the proposals with their groups and return to the matter in two weeks’ time.

Business Managers agreed to write to the Petitions Committee for its view on the recommendations set out in the Review of the Public Petitions Arrangements report published by its predecessor committee in February 2016.

Business Managers requested that a proposal along the lines of a ‘Ten Minute Rule Bill’ be included in the forthcoming paper on Members’ Legislation.

The Leader of the House informed Business Committee that the Education Secretary needed to move her OAQs to 11 January from 18 January due to foreign travel commitments.  The usual rotation would then resume.