Responding to the Supreme Court ruling that the Welsh Government’s Agricultural Sector (Wales) Bill is within the Assembly’s competence, the Party of Wales Shadow Minister for Sustainable Communities, Energy and Food Llyr Gruffydd said:
“I’m glad that the Supreme Court has recognised Assembly’s competence in this area. The situation whereby pieces of the Welsh Government’s legislation are constantly referred to the Supreme Court delays the process and is an unnecessary waste of public money.
“The current devolution dispensation is not fit for purpose and is far beyond its use by date. The case for moving to a reserved powers model has been made and has been accepted by all parties in the Assembly, and adopting this model would avoid these unnecessary delays.
“Plaid Cymru has always welcomed the establishment of a Welsh Agricultural Wages Board. More than 14,000 agricultural workers could be affected by this decision. I want to see a new board with a much broader remit so that it can play a role in driving forward skills and training, and promoting careers in the agriculture industry.
“Plaid Cymru attempted to amend the bill in order to outlaw the use of zero-hour contracts in the sector, but the Labour Welsh Government voted against stating that it would risk having the legislation challenged in the Supreme Court. This happened anyway, and had the Labour Welsh Government accepted the amendment we could have made an important change to the conditions of workers in the agriculture sector.”
