Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:44 pm on 18 June 2024.
Mike Hedges
Labour
4:44,
18 June 2024
Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The LJC committee considered these draft regulations on 10 June, and our report and the Welsh Government's response are available on today's agenda. Our report contains two technical and one merits reporting points. Before I briefly summarise our technical reporting, I will just highlight the written statement the Cabinet Secretary issued last week, which relates to the single merits point in our report.
As the Cabinet Secretary has just outlined, this draft Order cannot be made until it has been approved by both Houses of Parliament and the Senedd. Given the dissolution of the UK Parliament ahead of the next UK election, in the statement the Cabinet Secretary indicated that it will now be a matter for the incoming UK Government to table a new motion seeking the approval of both Houses of Parliament, and the Senedd's consideration will go ahead in the meantime.
Our merits point had identified this issue and we asked the Welsh Government to provide an update on the future of the draft Order. In formally responding to this point in our report, the Welsh Government drew our attention to the written statement and confirmed that Members would be kept informed of progress on the Order once the new UK Government is formed and UK parliamentary business is resumed.
Turning to our first technical reporting point, the Order is in English only. In our report, we highlight the reasoning provided in the explanatory memorandum, which states that, as the Order in Council is UK Government legislation, the draft Order is laid before the Senedd in English only.
Our second technical reporting point notes that the italic headnote at the top of the draft Order states only that the draft is laid before the Parliament for approval by resolution of each House. The Welsh Government told us that, while the draft was prepared to be consistent with the headnote on Orders in Council previously made under section 109 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, the Welsh Government does consider that reference to the Senedd should have been included in the headnote as a matter of good practice and has asked the Wales Office to ensure that the headnotes of future draft Orders include a reference to the Senedd's role in the process. Diolch.
As a bill passes through Parliament, MPs and peers may suggest amendments - or changes - which they believe will improve the quality of the legislation.
Many hundreds of amendments are proposed by members to major bills as they pass through committee stage, report stage and third reading in both Houses of Parliament.
In the end only a handful of amendments will be incorporated into any bill.
The Speaker - or the chairman in the case of standing committees - has the power to select which amendments should be debated.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
