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Following last week’s vote on the UK’s post-Brexit Agriculture Bill, a Legislative Consent Motion on the UK Fisheries Bill was put before MSs yesterday (pdf). Also, like the Agriculture Bill, it’ll be a stop-gap until a Welsh Fisheries Bill is introduced in the next term.
Environment, Energy & Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham), accepted that the relevant committees had concerns over some aspects, but she had appropriate assurances from the UK Government and a memorandum of understanding on how the post-Brexit fisheries framework will work is being drafted.
There were concerns about a lack of a “sunset clause” in relation to UK powers relating to fisheries, as there’s no guarantee a Welsh Fisheries Bill will be introduced in the next Senedd (depending on the election results). That could lead to the UK Government having powers for longer than is necessary.
Shadow Environment & Rural Affairs Minister, Janet Finch-Saunders MS (Con, Aberconwy), welcomed the UK Fisheries Bill. She believed financial powers included in the Bill are particularly beneficial and will enable the Welsh Government to provide additional assistance to the (relatively small) Welsh fishing industry for a broader range of reasons than EU maritime funds.
The strongest objections came from Plaid Cymru. Llyr Gruffydd MS (Plaid, North Wales) welcomed the extension of maritime powers to Wales, but it wasn’t clear how resources would be shared between the UK’s nations. He didn’t understand why a “sunset clause” has been deemed necessary for the Agriculture Bill, but brushed off in this case.
Why were MSs being expected “to consent to the legislation based on back-of-a-fag-packet assurances that you’ve had from UK Government Ministers that they won’t overrule the Welsh Government as and when they please”?
The Minister responded to criticisms by saying the working relationship between the UK governments on fisheries has long been far closer than agriculture – so it was implied there was no reason to be too concerned about the lack of a sunset clause as the devolved governments were fully involved at the centre.
Nonetheless, there was a vote:
