Subordinate Legislation Committee

Inquiry into the scrutiny of subordinate legislation and delegated powers

Consultation Responses
SLC 20 - Welsh Affairs Committee

House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
Tel 020 7219 6189 Fax 020 7219 0300
Email welshcom@parliament.uk
Website http://www.parliament.uk/welshcom/

12 February 2009

Inquiry into the Scrutiny of Subordinate Legislation
and Delegated Powers

You wrote to the Welsh Affairs Committee recently to ask our views about the scrutiny of Welsh provisions in UK Bills. I am happy to respond on behalf of the Committee about our involvement in the scrutiny of legislation. However, a number of the issues you raise are matters of interest to all Welsh MPs and not just those who sit on my Committee. You may therefore find it helpful to refer to the proceedings of the Welsh Grand Committee, held on Wednesday 21 January 2009, at which the subject of the Government’s Legislative Programme (Wales) was debated. During that debate, a number of Members raised the issue of the scrutiny of Welsh provisions in UK Bills and the importance of considering the application of UK-wide legislative provisions to Wales. The significance of the Marine Bill for Wales was a particular case in point.

The Welsh Affairs Committee has an important role in the pre-legislative scrutiny of Legislative Competence Orders, but the Wales Office itself produces very little primary legislation. UK Bills affecting Wales which are the responsibility of other government departments fall within the remit of other Departmental Select Committees. We enjoy a good relationship with the other Select Committees of the House and have contributed to their inquiries where the Bill contains important provisions for Wales. For example, we provided a memorandum to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee as part of its inquiry into the draft Apprenticeships Bill, questioning the 'England-only’ information provided with the draft Bill and asking for clarification about its proposed implementation in Wales. We value the opportunity to provide input into such inquiries and fully intend to continue to contribute where appropriate.

The Committee has a busy programme of inquiries, which often include the scrutiny of relevant legislation and policy documents. In January 2009, the Committee published our Report on The Provision of cross-border public services for Wales: Further and higher education. This Report was part of an ongoing inquiry into cross-border services, focusing on health, education and transport. The evidence we have gathered during this inquiry has highlighted problems in Whitehall’s understanding of the devolution settlement. In our Education Report, we concluded that:

"Welsh interests are not being adequately taken into account when formulating UK policy, and UK policies are overly based on English interests. We recommend that the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills establishes processes to ensure that the territorial extent of any policy is clearly identified and communicated by officials before any developments to it are proposed and that this should be done in consultation with the Wales Office and the Welsh Assembly Government […] there is also a need to establish better protocols and relationships to ensure that the Government’s policymaking process routinely considers devolved interests at an early stage”. (Welsh Affairs Committee, First Report of Session 2008-09, HC 57, Cross-border provision of public services for Wales: Further and higher education, paragraphs 105 and 107)

We consider that the Wales Office has a central role in improving the co-ordination of policy on both sides of the border. We await the Government’s response to our Report.

You also ask about links between Committees of the National Assembly for Wales and those at Westminster. The exact nature of any relationship between an Assembly Committee and a House of Commons Committee considering legislation is for the members of those Committees to decide. However, in the course of our work on LCOs we have found that informal joint meetings with Assembly Committees have been extremely productive and that the exchange of information involved has enhanced our inquiries.

I hope these observations will prove helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact Committee staff should you require any further information.

Dr Hywel Francis MP

Chairman, Welsh Affairs Select Committee

Janet Ryder AM

Chair

Subordinate Legislation Committee

National Assembly for Wales

Cardiff Bay

Cardiff

CF99 1NA