A couple of weeks ago, I predicted that the once dead-zone of agriculture and fisheries was going to become a key battleground for consultation in the imminent future. That imminent future is now here. Was it more imminent than you thought? The most interesting subjects in the Commons came up in ninth and tenth sittings of the committee debates on the Agriculture Bill. The Agriculture Bill makes provision to replace the various payments that were once covered by the Common Agricultural Policy, as well as making a wide variety of other provisions for farmers. In doing so, it starts the process of returning agriculture related powers to Westminster from Brussels. Always a contentious matter, the Bill is replete with new powers to regulate through secondary legislation, and the manner in which the government goes about this is top of the mind for most opposition Parliamentarians. Despite promises that they will continue to consult, several of the proposed amendments seek to put a statutory obligation on the Government to do so. So far, the government has rejected all such amendments with the Minister suggesting that they are likely to continue to do so, stating on Tuesday that “…placing a requirement to consult in primary legislation would be burdensome”. In normal times this might have been enough to head off any more probing amendments but in these times where trust, one of the most valuable currencies for any government in its relationship with the legislature, is particularly low, I suspect that we are going to see a return to this issue again, in both Houses before the Queen puts her seal on this particular Bill.

The Government isn’t only caught in this particular knotty net in the Commons. In the Lords too there has been heavy debate about the Fisheries Bill. The debate in the Lords has focussed not so much on the Government’s plans to consult on regulations (though it has arisen), but more on the depth and nature of the planned consultations. A matter of process perhaps, rather than existence. With fishing often being a very locally important industry, a wide variety of suggestions have been made ranging from the creation of local advisory boards (undoubtedly a form of consultation themselves), to the potential need for statutory statements on the length of fishing related consultations. With fishing being a key factor in Brexit, the Government can’t really afford to get it wrong, and the tight scrutiny they are facing in the Lords could be the start of a long and gruelling slog through the legislative process, even after implementation. Expect more from us imminently.

I also promised you reports from the devolved administrations this week. In Wales, we had brief exchanges about the wisdom of Caerphilly Council’s ongoing budget consultation, but also praise from the First Minister for their consultation on the Valleys Regeneration Area Masterplan. A slightly less positive situation arose in questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs on Thursday, where concerns were raised about potential pollution, some of it radioactive in the Severn Estuary. The Minister made attempts to reassure people that Natural Resources Wales were consulting experts on the matter, however, it would not surprise me to see this come up again, possibly in the context of a demand for a wider consultation with affected stakeholders.

The Scottish Parliament were relatively quiet with regard to consultation, the most notable occurrence being a request for the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People to bring forward the proposed consultation on changes to the carers allowance. The consultation, due to take place in 2021 is part of the planned timeframe for the devolution of social security benefits, and the request was rejected.

In the reconstituted Northern Ireland Assembly, most of the consultation related debate revolved around Justice this week. The Minister of Justice gave an oral response to the closure of the Northern Irish consultation on sentencing review, promising future work on the subject matter. Progress from the result of a 2018 consultation on anti-social behaviour was also highlighted, with the Minister noted the creation of a working group both to consider the findings of the Consultation and to consider how successful legislative changes in England and Wales were, notably with regard to the replacement of the old ASBOs (remember them?!) with criminal behaviour orders and public space protection orders. It will be interesting to see what the conclusions of the working group are when they report back.

As always, if you have any questions, or if there is anything you would like to discuss further, please drop me a line at StephenH@consultationinstitute.org