Agenda and minutes

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

Tuesday

·         The Llywydd informed Business Managers that she would welcome Delyth Jewell, the new Assembly Member for the South Wales East Region, at the start of today’s Plenary and invite her to say a few words.

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

Wednesday

·         The Llywydd, as the Member in Charge, informed Business Managers that the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill had received Minister of the Crown consent yesterday, and reminded them that the introductory statement was scheduled for tomorrow.

·         Voting Time will take place before the short debate.

Business Committee noted the 3 Week Timetable of Government Business.

3 Week Timetable of Assembly Business

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

Wednesday 6 March 2019 –

·         Motion to vary the order of consideration of Stage 3 amendments to the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill (5 mins)

Wednesday 13 March 2019 –

·         Debate: Stage 3 of the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill (150 mins)

·         Time allocated to the Welsh Conservatives (60 mins)

Business Managers agreed to extend the Stage 1 reporting deadline to Tuesday 26 March 2019.

Rhun ap Iorwerth expressed concern that the delay was due to the Counsel General’s availability being impacted because of his Brexit Minister responsibilities.

The Deputy Presiding Officer chaired this item as the Llywydd is the Member in charge of the Bill.

Business Managers agreed the proposed timetable for the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill.

Business Managers agreed to the request from CLA for flexibility in the timings of their meetings in order to accommodate scrutiny of the Bill.

Spokespeople’s questions

The Llywydd requested that Business Managers ensure that their Members, where reasonably practical, inform her through the Plenary Requests mailbox when they intend to direct their spokespeople’s questions to a Deputy Minister, and that they continue to indicate that to the Government as well.

Noise in the Chamber

Following instances of noise in the Chamber last week, the Llywydd reminded Business Managers that Members should not leave their devices unattended in the Chamber.

Allocation of Committee Chairs between groups

Darren Millar stated that the Welsh Conservatives would like to re-visit the previous Business Committee offer to re-allocate the Chair of the Petitions Committee from the UKIP Group to the Welsh Conservatives, but that the Group were not yet in a position to make a nomination.

The Llywydd stated that the committee will need to return to the previous decisions made by the Business Committee regarding the allocation of committee Chairs, when the Welsh Conservatives are in a position to make a nomination.

Rhun ap Iorwerth noted that he would be happy to support such a proposal. Neil Hamilton stated his view that, based on the current balance between parties, the UKIP Group was entitled to one committee Chair.

The Llywydd noted that Business Managers positions had not changed from the last time the issue was considered, except for Darren Millar who stated that his Group would now accept the re-allocation of the Petitions Committee Chair. In response to a query, the Llywydd confirmed that ultimately, if any motion to re-allocate Committee Chairs were considered in Plenary  it would be open for debate.

Supplementary LCMs 

The Trefnydd updated Business Managers on the latest position with regards to two Brexit Bills. Due to Parliamentary timetables and ongoing negotiations with the UK Government, the laying of these Supplementary LCMs has been delayed and would result in limited time for committee scrutiny.