Part 4 – General
Section 5 – Post-legislative scrutiny
217.This section inserts a new section 42A into the 2019 Act. That new section has the effect of requiring the Counsel General to undertake a review of the first two years of operation of new Parts 2A and 2B of the 2019 Act, and lay a report on the findings before the Senedd. Consultation with the Llywydd, the Clerk of the Senedd and other persons with an interest is required as part of the review.
Section 6 – Activities to improve accessibility of Welsh law
218.Section 6 of this Act amends section 2 of the 2019 Act. That section requires the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General to develop a programme of work designed to improve the accessibility of Welsh law in each Senedd term.
219.Although the specific content of a programme is a matter for the Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General, section 2(3) requires each programme to make provision to consolidate and codify Welsh law, maintain codified law, promote awareness and understanding of Welsh law, and to facilitate use of the Welsh language.
220.The amendment made by section 6 of this Act to section 2(3) of the 2019 Act means that each programme must also make provision correcting any errors and resolving any ambiguities in Welsh law. Section 2(7) of the 2019 Act requires the Counsel General to make an annual report to Senedd Cymru on progress against the programme. Once the amendment made to section 2(3) of the 2019 Act is in force, future reports will need to include updates on the measures taken on correcting any errors or resolving ambiguities. To date the Counsel General’s reports have been written papers published on the Welsh Government’s website, but as noted in the Explanatory Notes to the 2019 Act, the report could be made as a statement to the Senedd.
Section 7 – Minor amendments to the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019Schedule 2 – Minor amendments to the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019
221.Schedule 2 – which is introduced by section 7 – contains minor amendments to Part 2 of the 2019 Act.
222.Part 2 of the 2019 Act makes provision about the interpretation and operation of legislation made by the Senedd or under powers it has conferred, and other subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers and other devolved Welsh authorities.
223.Paragraph 2 of this Schedule amends section 3 of the 2019 Act. Section 3 sets out the legislation to which Part 2 of the 2019 Act applies: namely, to the Act itself and to Senedd Acts that are enacted and Welsh subordinate instruments that are made after 1 January 2020. The amendments made to section 3 make clear that Part 2 applies to the subordinate legislation contained within a Welsh subordinate instrument (reflecting the approach taken in new Parts 2A and 2B of the 2019 Act).
224.Paragraph 3 of this Schedule inserts a new section 12A (Meaning of references to laying documents before Senedd Cymru) into Part 2 of the 2019 Act. The first step in parliamentary control is the requirement that a document be laid before a parliament (in Wales, this means laying before Senedd Cymru). What constitutes laying must be a matter for the decision of the Senedd and the Senedd’s rules and procedures are laid out in its Standing Orders. As such new section 12A makes clear that where an Act of the Senedd or Welsh subordinate instrument requires a document to be laid before the Senedd, then that means taking the actions specified in the Senedd’s Standing Orders in relation to laying (see for example, Standing Order 15).
225.Section 16 of the 2019 Act provides that powers and duties under provisions of Acts of the Senedd and Welsh subordinate instruments may in certain circumstances be exercised before those provisions come into force. Paragraph 4 of this Schedule to the Act amends section 16 in two respects:
firstly, to address a practical difficulty that has arisen from the effect of current section 16(1)(a), which excludes powers and duties from the scope of the section if the provisions conferring or imposing them are to be brought into force by order or regulations. This means that provisions have to be commenced separately for the purposes of being able to make subordinate legislation in anticipation of the provisions coming into force for other purposes, leading to multiple and sometimes complex commencement orders being made. Substituted subsection (1)(a) addresses this and extends section 16 to cover all powers that are to be brought into force by order or regulations, not just powers to make subordinate legislation. Additionally new subsection (3A) ensures that subordinate legislation can be made ahead of the power to make it coming into force so long as either:
it does not come into force before the power itself is in force, or
if it does come into force before the power, it is necessary or expedient for it to do so for the purpose of giving full effect to the Act (or a provision of it) when it does come into force.
secondly, to put beyond doubt that section 16 authorises the anticipatory exercise of a power or duty where an amending Act or subordinate instrument inserts the power or duty into another enactment, and to make clear that in such a case the purposes and other provisions that are relevant to the power or duty include those of both the amending Act or instrument and the enactment that it amends (new subsections (6) and (7)).
226.Paragraphs 5 to 7 of this Schedule to the Act bring “Church Measures” within the meaning of “
227.Paragraph 8 of this Schedule amends section 35 of the 2019 Act. Section 35(3) provides that subordinate legislation made under provisions that have been repealed and re-enacted (for example in a consolidation of law) is to have effect as if made under the re-enacted provisions. Section 28 creates the default position that subordinate legislation made under an Act of Senedd Cymru binds the Crown so far as the Act enables it to do so, which is different from the default position for subordinate legislation to which Part 2 of the 2019 Act does not apply. The amendment in paragraph 6 is aimed at the situation where subordinate legislation to which section 28 did not originally apply now has effect under section 35(3) as if it had been made under an Act of the Senedd. It clarifies that section 35(3) does not cause section 28 to apply to subordinate legislation to which it did not previously apply (which could change whether the subordinate legislation binds the Crown).
228.Finally, paragraph 9 of this Schedule amends section 36 of the 2019 Act. Section 36 has the effect of preserving the validity of references to an Act by its short title even after the Act has been repealed. New subsection (2) makes equivalent provision preserving the validity of references to Welsh subordinate instruments by their titles even when those instruments have been revoked.
Section 8 – Consequential amendmentsSchedule 3 – Consequential amendments
229.Schedule 3 contains various amendments to existing enactments that are necessary in consequence of new Parts 2A and 2B of the 2019 Act. This includes further minor amendments to the 2019 Act itself.
Section 9 – Coming into force
230.Section 9 makes provision about when and how the Act comes into force.
231.This section provides for sections 2, 4 and 7, together with Schedules 1 and 2, to come into force two months after Royal Assent (in other words, on 10 September 2025). However, this is subject to section 9(3). Paragraph 22(2) of Schedule 1 to this Act amends section 1(1) of the Planning and Energy Act 2008, which is also amended by paragraph 29(2) of Schedule 8 to the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which is not yet in force(26). The amendment to section 1(1) in paragraph 22(2)(a)(i) of Schedule 1 of this Act will only be needed once the 2023 Act amendment is in force. Therefore, for the legislation to work correctly, section 7(3) of this Act provides that the amendment made by paragraph 22(2)(a)(i) will only come into force with the rest of Schedule 1 if the 2023 Act amendment is already in force at that time. Otherwise, the amendment made by the Act will come into force at the same time as the 2023 Act amendment.
232.This section (section 9) and section 10 came into force on 11 July 2025, the day after the Act received Royal Assent.
233.The remaining provisions of the Act will be brought into force by one or more orders to be made by the Welsh Ministers. It is expected that the order will bring Parts 1 and 2 fully into force at the start of a calendar year, so that it is possible to tell from the year included in the title of an instrument whether it is a Welsh statutory instrument made in accordance with Part 2A of the 2019 Act (and the numbering and publication requirements of Part 2B of the 2019 Act apply to it) or a statutory instrument to which the 1946 Act applies. It will also ensure there is not a year in which there are two different series of instruments made by the Welsh Ministers (statutory instruments forming part of the series of UK statutory instruments, and Welsh statutory instruments forming part of the Welsh statutory instrument series). As such the first and subsequent series of Welsh statutory instruments will each begin at the start of a calendar year and will cover complete years.
234.It is also expected that section 5 will be brought into force at the same time as Parts 1 and 2, and that section 6 will be brought into force for the start of the next Senedd (in May 2026).
Section 10 – Short title
235.Section 10 sets out the short title of the Act, by which it may be known and referred. Either the Welsh or the English language title of the Act may be used, including as a citation in other enactments.
The amendments in Schedule 8 to the 2023 Act relate to Chapter 2 of Part 3 of that Act, which introduce a new development plan system in England. The UK Government has said that it intends to implement the new system “from summer or autumn 2025”: see Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government consultation, “
