Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru / National Assembly for Wales

Etifeddiaeth y Pedwerydd Cynulliad / Fourth Assembly Legacy

Tystiolaeth gan y Pwyllgor Materion Cyfansoddiadol a Deddfwriaethol / Evidence from the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee

26 November 2015

Dear Presiding Officer,

Thank you for your letter of 7 October regarding the Business Committee’s legacy report. We would like to draw the following issues to your attention as you consider drawing up your report.

Our report Making Laws in Wales sets out a range of recommendations for developing and strengthening procedures related to the scrutiny of Bills by the Assembly. We recognise that the Business Committee (and Welsh Government) will formally respond to this report prior to the plenary debate currently scheduled for early in the New Year. Many of the issues raised in our report and the subsequent response to it will be relevant to your successor committee in the Fifth Assembly and we therefore believe should be considered in your legacy report.

In our letter to you of 13 February 2013, we indicated that our preferred approach in relation to the committee timetable would be for meetings of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee to be scheduled as part of the regular committee cycle. That remains our view. However, we believe that the mainstream committee cycle should operate from Monday to Thursday, so that Monday afternoons become a regular committee slot and available to all committees. In our view, and subject to decisions on the committees to be established in the Fifth Assembly, we do not believe it would be good practice for such an important committee to meet outside of the mainstream committee cycle on a Monday afternoon.

The role of our committee has developed over the course of the Fourth Assembly, particularly in relation to the scrutiny of Bills. We have spent a considerable amount of time examining the quality and construction of individual Bills (which gave rise to our Making Laws in Wales inquiry) as well as looking at issues of legislative competence including human rights issues, particularly as a result of judgments on Assembly legislation made by the Supreme Court. We believe there is scope to make some minor amendments to Standing Order 21.7 to highlight and more clearly delineate the important work we undertake.

We would be happy to discuss issues raised in this letter further if that would be helpful.

Yours Sincerely,

DPO's Signature

David Melding

Chair

Croesewir gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg.

We welcome correspondence in Welsh or English.