Agenda and minutes
Venue: Video Conference via Zoom
Contact: Aled Elwyn Jones
No. | Item |
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Introductions, apologies and substitutions |
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Minutes of the previous meeting Minutes: The minutes for the meeting were agreed by the Committee for publication. |
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Organisation of Business |
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This Week's Business Minutes: The Trefnydd
informed the Business Committee that the government intends to table a motion
to suspend Standing Orders to allow a debate on ‘Unlocking our society and
economy: continuing the conversation’ to take place on Wednesday. In order to
do so, the statements by the First Minister and the Minister for the Economy, Transport and North
Wales will be reduced to 45 mins, and the Minister for Housing and Local
Government’s statement withdrawn. Business Managers
expressed their disappointment at no longer having an oral statement by the
Minister for Housing and Local Government, and the Trefnydd agreed to feed this
back to the Minister. The Llywydd
informed Business Managers that the deadline for tabling amendments to the
motion will be 6pm on Tuesday, and that she would be selecting amendments on the
basis of encouraging the orderly conduct plenary business in a virtual context.
She therefore encouraged groups to consider the number of amendments they would
be tabling. The Llywydd also
informed Business Managers that in place of interventions, before the First
Minister responds to the debate she will take one-minute contributions from
Members who want to respond to something that has been said during the course
of the debate. That could include Members who had already spoken. Business
Managers asked the Secretariat to circulate a note to Members explaining this. Grouping of
regulations Darren Millar asked
that the two sets of Covid-19 regulations be debated together but with separate
votes, and so the proposal to group will be amended accordingly. BSA Business Committee
agreed to continue with the practice of there not being any questions on the
BSA. |
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Three Week Timetable of Business Minutes: Business Committee
agreed a provisional start time of 11am for the meeting on 3 June. The Committee
agreed to continue to schedule Topical Questions for the next three weeks. |
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Plenary |
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Plenary Business and the Covid-19 Emergency Minutes: The Business Committee agreed to increase the
number of Members able to attend plenary meetings up to the full 60 from the
week after half term. The Llywydd highlighted the need for Business Managers to
continue to inform officials in advance of which Members will be attending the
meeting. The Business Committee also agreed to continue
to use the weighted voting system, and to split plenary meetings into morning
and afternoon sessions if there is a significant increase in business. Business
Managers agreed that they will decide the start time of plenary on a weekly
basis. The Business Committee agreed that it was
important to lead by example and to follow social distancing guidelines until
such time as those guidelines change. They agreed to return to such issues as
physical or hybrid meetings only after any changes to Welsh Government
guidance. The Business Committee also agreed to schedule
one additional hour of non-government business a week, starting from the week
after half term, and to schedule one opposition debate a week for the next
three weeks. Business Managers noted that under the schedule that was being
followed before normal business was suspended, the next debate would be a
Brexit Party debate, but the Committee decided to schedule the next three
debates in the order of group size, and to follow the usual ratio after that.
Caroline Jones objected to this decision. Business Managers agreed that the
debates would have to be related to Covid-19 issues. The Business Committee discussed the letter
from the Leader of the Welsh Conservatives proposing the establishment of a
dedicated Covid-19 committee. There were differing views on the desirability of
the proposal, and the Committee asked the secretariat for a scoping paper on
the process for establishing such a committee. |
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Legislation |
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Legislative Consent Memorandum on the Finance Bill Minutes: The Committee
agreed to refer the LCM on the Finance Bill to the Finance Committee and the
Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, with a reporting deadline of
Thursday 2 July. |
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Letter from the Chairs of the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs and the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committees Minutes: Business Managers
agreed to extend the reporting deadline on the LCM on the Environment Bill to 2
July. |
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Letter from the Chairs of the External Affairs and Additional Legislation and the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committees Minutes: Business Managers
agreed to extend the reporting deadline on the LCM on the Trade Bill to 2 July. |
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Letter from the Chair of the Equalities, Local Government and Communities Committee Minutes: Business Managers agreed the Stage 2 deadline
of 9 October 2020, and that tabling for amendments should re-open in the last
week of summer recess as proposed by the committee. |
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Committees |
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Committee Timetable Minutes: Business Committee considered the letter from
the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee and agreed in principle to their
request to have a weekly broadcast slot. Business Managers asked officials to
investigate whether and how that could be accommodated, and agreed to return to
the matter at the next meeting. |