Agenda and minutes

The Trefnydd drew Business Managers’ attention to the addition of a statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government on Homelessness to Wednesday’s meeting. She also informed Business Managers that a statement by the Minister for Education would be added to the agenda this afternoon.  

BSA 

Business Managers agreed to continue with the practice of there not being any questions on the BSA. 

Interventions 

The Llywydd informed Business Managers that, as happened in the government debate in the last plenary session, she will be handling interventions differently to the way she would in a physical meeting. In place of interventions, before the last speaker responds to a debate, the Llywydd will take one-minute contributions from Members who are responding to something that has been said during the course of the debate. That could include Members who have already spoken. 

Joining instructions 

The Llywydd informed Business Managers that although all 60 Members will be entitled to attend, groups and independent members still need to inform Chamber Secretariat of who will be attending. The Llywydd also asked Business Managers to encourage Members to get their speaking requests in by the end of the day on Tuesday if at all possible. 

The Llywydd also asked Business Managers to ensure that Members are aware that they need to join the meeting at 10.30am (or half an hour before the start time if they are only joining for the afternoon session), at the latest, to allow time for IT checks. Members arriving after 10.50am (or 10 minutes before the afternoon start time) will have to wait until after the meeting has started.  

Break 

Business Managers agreed that the break should come       after Topical Questions, at approximately 12.20.  

3 Week Timetable of Government Business 

The Trefnydd drew Business Managers’ attention to the revised 3 week timetable that was circulated this morning:  

Wednesday 17 June 2020 

·                     Proposal under Standing Order 12.24 to debate the following together but with separate votes: (30 mins) 

o  The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 

o  The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 5) Regulations 2020 

Business Managers discussed the letter from Suzy Davies and agreed to schedule the no named day motion which proposes to annul the Local Government (Coronavirus) (Postponement of Elections) (Wales) Regulations 2020, on Wednesday 10 June.  

Business Managers discussed the letter and agreed to continue the practice of only scheduling Covid-19 related business for the time being, and to inform the Committee of that. They also agreed that the Petitions committee should write again should it wish to schedule a debate on a Covid related petition. 

Business Managers discussed the letter and agreed in principle to schedule a Finance Committee debate on the Welsh Government’s spending priorities during the last week before summer recess. 

Business Managers noted the letter.

The Committee agreed a reporting deadline of Thursday 12 June for the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for both the No. 4 and the No. 5 Regs. The Trefnydd agreed to look at whether any future regulations could be scheduled for debate sooner, while still allowing some time for LJC to report. 

Business Managers discussed the paper. Darren Millar and Siân Gwenllian were in favour and the Trefnydd and Caroline Jones were against, and so the majority view was against the proposal to table a motion to establish the committee. 

Business Managers did agree that it was important to look at Covid-19 in a cross-cutting manner and agreed to ask that the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister meet early this half term. Caroline Jones requested that all groups should be represented on any committee carrying out cross-cutting scrutiny. 

Business Managers also agreed that it is important to scrutinise the Covid-19 recovery work, which the Counsel General is leading on. They asked officials to consider where within the current committee remits this responsibility sat, and to consult with the Chair’s Forum on the matter.  

Business Committee considered and agreed the revised committee timetable, allowing the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee to meet on a weekly basis.   

Update on LCMs 

The Trefnydd provided the committee with updates on the following LCMs: 

The Fisheries Bill – This has been delayed further due to technical matters and will likely be brought forward after the Summer recess. The debate provisionally scheduled for the 8^th  of July has therefore been postponed. 

Non Domestic Rating (Lists) Bill & Non Domestic Rating (Public Lavatories) Bill - These Bills were remitted for scrutiny by EIS and LJC but no reporting deadlines set as the government was awaiting further information on Parliamentary timetables. As these remain uncertain, the government proposed that committees be set a deadline for reporting of 2 July. Business Committee agreed the proposed deadline. 

Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill – The government is considering whether the legislative consent of the Senedd is required for this Bill, and if so anticipates laying a LCM this week and proposing a debate on 10 June. 

Written Questions 

Opposition Business Managers raised further issues on the timeliness and content of written answers. The Trefnydd undertook to follow up with Ministerial colleagues and raised the issue of Members asking for information which was already in the public domain. The Llywydd asked officials to provide her with further information on when questions were being answered.