WELSH PARLIAMENT: CLIMATE CHANGE, ENVIRONMENT & RURAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE REPORTS ON LEGISLATIVE CONSENT FOR UK ENVIRONMENT BILL

In July 2020 the Climate Change, Environment & Rural Affairs Committee of the Welsh Parliament published its report on the Legislative Consent Mechanism for the UK Environment Bill.

While much of the report addresses technical machinery concerned with the LCM, one notable feature is the unchallenged assumption by the Welsh Government that the UK Environment Bill will not provide a workable solution for Wales in its governance provisions.

The report reflects further pressure from this Committee for the Welsh Government to publish the recommendations of its own taskforce, and to come forward with its own legislation. This is time critical, in the Committee’s view, because of the need to have working arrangements in place to support enforcement of environmental laws from the end of the Transition Period on 31 December 2020.