Today’s decision made by the UK Supreme Court to rule in favour of upholding a Welsh Government Bill that was passed by the National Assembly for Wales has been applauded by Swansea East AM, Mike Hedges.
The Agricultural Sector (Wales) Bill, which was passed by Assembly Members in July 2013 to protect the incomes and wages of thousands of Welsh agricultural workers, was introduced as an emergency piece of legislation by the Welsh Government following the decision of the UK Government to abolish and revoke both the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) for England and Wales and the Agricultural Wages Order 2012.
Despite its passage in the Assembly, the Bill was referred to the Supreme UK Court by Attorney General Dominic Grieve to decide whether or not the National Assembly has competence to pass a Bill giving Welsh Ministers the right to establish their own Agricultural Wages Board.
Welcoming today’s judgement from the Supreme Court, Labour AM Mike Hedges, who voted in favour of passing the Bill said:
“I’m pleased with today’s judgement, which is great news for thousands of low-paid Welsh agricultural workers and confirms the belief of many that the Assembly had the powers to pass this piece of legislation all along.
“What’s frustrating however is the fact that this Bill was referred to the Supreme Court in the first place. Since 2011, we’ve seen to date three Assembly passed Bills referred there for judicial review, and I feat that this number will only rise in the future as a result of our complex and unclear devolution settlement.
“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court further reinforces the need for Wales to have the same model of powers as is in place in both Scotland and Northern Ireland – something that I have been campaigning for since first entering the Assembly.”
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