Section 68: Compliance with Welsh Ministers’ directions
292.This section requires any reporting authority issued with directions under section 67 to comply with them and sets out other details of how they must prepare their reports.
293.Subsection (1) sets out the basic duty on reporting authorities to comply with directions. Subsection (2) provides that where two or more reporting authorities have been directed to prepare a joint report, then they must take reasonable steps to cooperate with one another in preparing it.
294.Subsection (3) lists a number of reports and programmes that all reporting authorities must have regard to when preparing their own reports following a direction from the Welsh Ministers:
the Secretary of State’s most recent report on the current and predicted risks of climate change under section 56;
the Secretary of State’s most recent adaptation programme under section 58;
any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under section 61;
any guidance issued by the Welsh Ministers under section 66;
the Welsh Ministers’ most recent report on climate change under section 80.
But reporting authorities need have regard only to those reports and programmes so far as they are relevant.
295.Subsection (4) requires a reporting authority to send a copy of its report to the Welsh Ministers. Subsection (5) requires the Welsh Ministers to publish the report in such manner as they consider appropriate, but subject to the exceptions in subsection (7). Under subsection (6), the Welsh Ministers are not required to publish anything that they could refuse to disclose under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c.36) or under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/3391) or which they are prohibited from disclosing by any enactment.
296.Subsection (7) requires reporting authorities to have regard to their own reports in the exercise of all of their “devolved Welsh functions” (see section 70 for the definition).
