Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Wales Bill inquiry

Published 14 June 2016.

The government welcomes the Committee's report and says the Wales Bill as introduced has been significantly modified through pre-legislative scrutiny, while keeping the fundamental principles of the draft.

• On the necessity test, the government says it has been removed for private law, and for criminal law the Bill enables modification for a devolved purpose except for "a short list of offences and core elements". It retains the test for legislating in relation to England and for the law on reserved matters, as it believes "necessity" is the right test there.
• On a distinct or separate legal jurisdiction, the government says it does "not agree" and "will not be taking forward these recommendations". It has set up a working group of officials to examine administration of justice arrangements in Wales.
• On Ministerial consent, the government agrees a clear procedure is needed but says it is administrative and "best set out in guidance" rather than on the face of the Bill. The guidance will include a deadline of 60 working days.
• On the St David's Day process, the government "does not share" the Committee's view that it was an insufficiently robust foundation. On the list of reservations, it says it cannot provide specific examples of challenge to departments.

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