(Title Image: Elliot Brown via Flickr)
In a letter to the First Minister on behalf of the Senedd’s Chair’s Forum (pdf), the Llywydd, Elin Jones (Plaid, Ceredigion), conveyed the concerns of the respective committee chairs that the Welsh Government have sought delegated powers (in effect, rule by decree) instead of bringing Brexit-related regulations and laws before AMs.
“Whilst I, and the Chairs’ Forum, understand that you have made these decisions on the grounds of efficiency for the governments involved in the process, the concern expressed by Chairs is that this comes at a cost of the Assembly’s role and therefore Members’ ability to effectively represent the interests of the people of Wales in the process of legislating for Brexit.
“In representing the views expressed to me by Chairs, and acting in the interests of the Assembly’s position in the Brexit process, I have concerns that the cumulative effect of these Welsh Government decisions is an inadvertent bypassing of the Assembly’s role.”
– Llywydd, Elin Jones AM
At present, the Welsh Government has agreed that the UK Government can make Brexit-related regulations to correct aspects of the law – where there’s no fundamental disagreement – in order to save time, but the Llywydd argued that giving AMs more buy-in would improve scrutiny and transparency.
