Another busy week nearly done and dusted, and we return to the corridors of power to explore what our legislators have been up to recently. It’s been busy, but here’s what you need to know.

Westminster

One of the consequences of the war in Ukraine has been the swathe of punishing sanctions levied against the Russian Federation. The biggest gap in these sanctions has been until recently the reliance of many European states on Russian gas and oil for energy generation purposes. Although the UK is relatively less reliant on Russia for energy generation purposes (the Government claims only 8% of our oil and gas has a Russian origin), the Government decided this week to phase out this reliance by the end of the year as a response to the invasion.

Naturally, this will leave something of an energy gap, and with prices already elevated, and likely to rise considerably further in the near future, the problem of replacing fossil fuels and accelerating the switch to more sustainable energy sources is rapidly coming to a head. It comes at an interesting time too, with the Government being in the process of analysing feedback to their consultation reviewing the National Policy Statements for energy, the documents that allow developers and providers to undertake major infrastructure projects.

The replacement of fossil fuels has galvanised discussion across government, and rumours are flying about the next steps. The Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, has had an abrupt change of opinion about the possibilities for liberalising use of fracking. On Sunday, he was quoted in the Mail on Sunday as being opposed to it as a solution. By Wednesday, in the House of Commons, he was tentatively supporting it. Quite the volte face.

Fracking is one of those things that always causes controversy- we’ve seen it in court multiple times, and finding a community content to host a fracking site is something of a fool’s errand. With support for green energy and net zero at an all time high, it might be something the Government should consider asking the public about- especially as they’re likely to bear the brunt of rising energy costs.

 Scotland

You may already have seen our article this week about the UK Government’s attempts to reform human rights legislation, but the UK Government is not the only one looking at the matter. In Holyrood this week, the Scottish Government highlighted their own consultation on a new human rights bill to incorporate four international human rights treaties into Scots Law. It’s an interesting area for the Scottish Government, and one where they have to tread rather carefully. Back in October last year, a similar decision to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was stymied by the Supreme Court’s decision that three of the clauses in the legislation were unlawful as they were outside the competence of a devolved administration.

At the time there were some who speculated that the decision to incorporate the clauses, which even the Scottish Government accepted were, on the face of it, outwith their competence might have been a political move by the Scottish Government. It’ll be interesting to see how this decision is handled in the consultation, in particular whether any mention will be made of it in the response as to how the Scottish Government plan to avoid the same issue arising, particularly if respondents bring it up.

 Wales

Complaints in Senedd this week that the Welsh Government has failed to publish a regulatory impact assessment alongside the consultation document on a refreshed TB eradication scheme, despite the financial impacts on farms that suffer from TB infections that were highlighted in a previous report. The document itself contained only limited analysis of how a renewed impact might have on farms and farming. The Minister did not address the RIA point, merely saying that she did not wish to pre-empt the consultation- a fair argument, albeit we can’t help but wonder whether an RIA might be deemed to be essential information that should be shared as part of the consultation. It would be very interesting to see how a court might rule on the matter, given the increasing prevalenc