Progress of the Government of Wales Bill 2005-06
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Progress of the Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 Abstract The Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 has completed its passage though the House of Commons and now proceeds to the House of Lords. This paper provides an overview of the key issues that emerged during the Committee Stage, Report Stage and Third Reading. March 2006 Members’ Research Service / Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Progress of the Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 Alys Thomas and Ross Davies March 2006 Paper number: 06/010 © Crown copyright 2006 Enquiry no: 06/0660/atrd Date: March 2006 This document has been prepared by the Members’ Research Service to provide Assembly Members and their staff with information and for no other purpose. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, however, we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies found later in the original source material, provided that the original source is not the Members’ Research Service itself. This document does not constitute an expression of opinion by the National Assembly, the Welsh Assembly Government or any other of the Assembly’s constituent parts or connected bodies. Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Executive Summary ♦ The Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 was scrutinised by a Committee of the whole House of Commons on the 23, 24 and 30 January 2006. It received its Report Stage and Third Reading on the 27 and 28 February 2006. ♦ There was some concern expressed by the Conservative Opposition that there had been insufficient time to properly scrutinise the Bill. ♦ The paper highlights a number of issues which were raised and debated during the Bill's passage through the House of Commons. These are: − Assembly Measures − Pre-legislative Scrutiny − Requirement for a Referendum − Legislative competence − Role of the Counsel-General − Powers of the Secretary of State − Size of the Assembly − Taking the Oath in Public − Dual Candidacy − Political Balance − Name of the Government − Ministers and Deputy Ministers − Power of Well-being − Statutory Business Scheme ♦ The House of Lords Constitution Committee and the House of Lords Delegated Legislation Committee are concerned about "an apparent Government wish to move from the traditional way of legislating to Orders in Council". This is in relation to the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill which is currently in the Lords and in relation to Part 3 of the Government of Wales Bill. The Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt. Hon. Peter Hain MP, gave evidence to the Constitution Committee and argued that the case of Wales was not comparable with delegating powers to a Secretary of State. ♦ The Government of Wales Bill is now in the House of Lords and will receive its Second Reading on 22 March 2006. Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 2 The Committee Stage........................................................................................... 1 3 The Report and Third Reading ............................................................................ 1 4 Issues.................................................................................................................... 2 4.1 Assembly Measures ............................................................................................... 2 4.2 Pre-legislative Scrutiny ........................................................................................... 3 4.3 Requirement for a Referendum .............................................................................. 4 4.4 Legislative competence .......................................................................................... 5 4.5 Role of the Counsel-General .................................................................................. 6 4.6 Powers of the Secretary of State............................................................................ 8 4.7 Size of the Assembly.............................................................................................. 9 4.8 Taking the Oath in Public ..................................................................................... 10 4.9 Dual Candidacy .................................................................................................... 11 4.10 Political Balance ............................................................................................ 13 4.11 Name of the Government .............................................................................. 15 4.12 Ministers and Deputy Ministers...................................................................... 15 4.13 Power of Well-being ...................................................................................... 16 4.14 Statutory Business Scheme .......................................................................... 17 5 Issues relating to Orders in Council ................................................................. 17 6 Progression to the House of Lords................................................................... 19 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Progress of the Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 1 Introduction The Members Research Service has produced papers on the Government of Wales Bill 2005-061 and a paper on the Second Reading Debate on the Bill in the House of Commons2. This paper covers the subsequent stages of the Bill: the Committee Stage which, as the Bill is a constitutional Bill, was considered by a Committee of the Whole House and the Report and Third Reading stages. The paper highlights key issues which were raised during the passage of the Bill. 2 The Committee Stage The Bill was considered a committee of the whole House in the House of Commons on 23, 24 and 30 January 2006. At the end of the Committee stage on 30 January 2006, the Shadow Secretary of State, Cheryl Gillan MP, raised a point of order, drawing attention to the lack of time that had been allotted for consideration of the Bill. On a point of order, Sir Michael. You have spent the past six minutes reading out a raft of clauses and amendments that the House has not had the opportunity to consider. I calculate that a full Committee of the House has been unable to scrutinise some 133 clauses. I would like you to advise me, Sir Michael, on whether there is anything that I can do about it, given that my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. May) raised the matter with the Leader of the House last Thursday during business questions and requested extra time for the Committee stage. The Leader of the House failed even to acknowledge her request.3 3 The Report and Third Reading The Conservatives re-iterated their criticisms of the limited time allowed for scrutiny prior to the Report stage during a discussion on the amendment of the Programme Motion for the consideration of the Bill. The Parliamentary Under Secretary for the Wales Office, Nick Ainger MP, stated: The programme motion seeks to ensure adequate debate on parts of the Bill that have attracted amendments to be considered on Report. It follows three days in Committee on the Floor of the House, during which the Bill received thorough and particularly of the parts that are genuinely new enhanced primary powers and of proposals for reforming the electoral system. The House will be aware that 93 of the 165 clauses are based closely on sections of the Government of Wales Act 1998. A further 48 clauses relate to the separation of the legislature from the Executive, a policy that has all-party support. Only 24 clauses are concerned with the new provisions relating to the Assembly's enhanced—and, subject to a referendum, primary—legislative powers. It was thus right and proper for the 1 MRS, The Government of Wales Bill 2005-06, Research Paper 06/001, January 2006. 2 MRS, The Government of Wales Bill 2005-06: Second Reading Debate, Research Paper 06/003, January 2006 3 HC Debates, 30 January 2005, c.137 1 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil House to focus on scrutinising parts of the Bill that are novel and which it has not previously considered, while devoting less time to aspects that have cross-party support, such as the separation of the Executive and the legislature.4 4 Issues 4.1 Assembly Measures During the Committee Stage on the 23 January 2006, the Shadow Attorney-General Dominic Grieve MP, tabled amendments arguing that the proposed system of legislation by Assembly Measure constitutes primary legislation by the back door and that the transference of primary legislation to the Assembly should be subject to a referendum. He also raised concerns about the level of scrutiny undertaken in Westminster: [T]he Government intend to take the detailed scrutiny of the legislation away from this House and to give it to the Welsh Assembly. Not only that, but the process that they are proposing to the Committee to get around the problem of not enacting primary legislation entails a diminution of scrutiny and a raising of the power of the Secretary of State—the Executive—to interfere with the legislative process. Throughout the procedure in part 3, it is the Secretary of State who will be exercising a form of tutelage over the way in which the Welsh Assembly carries out its functions. He has