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Government of Wales Bill 2005-2006: Second Reading Abstract The Government of Wales Bill 2005-2006 received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 9 January 2006. This paper provides a summary of key issues which emerged in the debate. January 2006 Members’ Research Service / Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Government of Wales Bill 2005- 2006: Second Reading Alys Thomas January 2006 Paper number: 06/003 © Crown copyright 2006 Enquiry no: 06/0123/at Date: January 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 This paper provides a brief overview of some of the key issues that were raised in the Second Reading Debate on the Government of Wales Bill 2005-06 which was held on Monday 9 January 2006. It covers: ♦ The reasoned amendment put down by the Conservatives to refuse the Bill a Second Reading because there was no commitment to a referendum before implementing Part 3 of the Bill. ♦ Pre-legislative Scrutiny of Orders in Council in Parliament and the Assembly. ♦ The powers of the Secretary of State in the Bill. ♦ The issue of dual candidacy on the additional list and in constituencies for elections to the Assembly. ♦ Miscellaneous issues raised in the debate such as the role of the House of Lords and the whether the Assembly could hold successive referendums under Part 4 of the Bill. ♦ Annex 1 sets out a programme for the rest of the Bill's passage through the House of Commons Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 2 The Conservatives’ Reasoned Amendment ....................................................... 1 3 Parliamentary Scrutiny of Orders in Council ..................................................... 3 4 The Powers of the Secretary of State ................................................................. 5 5 Dual Candidacy..................................................................................................... 7 6 Miscellaneous Issues........................................................................................... 8 6.1 Repeated Referendums ......................................................................................... 8 6.2 Orders in Council and the House of Lords.............................................................. 8 6.3 Assembly Partnership with Business ...................................................................... 9 6.4 Regional Committees ............................................................................................. 9 7 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 10 A Annex 1 – Programme Motion ........................................................................... 11 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Government of Wales Bill 2005-2006: Second Reading 1 Introduction The Government of Wales Bill received its Second Reading in the House of Commons on Monday 9 January 2006. The Bill gives effect to the proposals set out in the White Paper, Better Governance for Wales, which was published in June 2005. These are: to effect formal separation between the Executive and Legislative parts of the Assembly; to make changes to electoral arrangements to the Assembly and to enhance the Assembly's legislative powers. The Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt.Hon. Peter Hain MP set out the rationale for the Bill: Much has changed since the House debated the original Government of Wales Bill. The budget of the National Assembly has nearly doubled, and the responsibilities of the Assembly have also increased. In the past 18 months alone, this House has resolved to transfer from Westminster to Cardiff Bay a number of important new policy areas: animal welfare, the fire and rescue services, student support and more children's services. Devolution has not stood still; it has evolved, and through the measures contained in this Bill it will evolve still further. But there is widespread acceptance of the need for reform. The Assembly's corporate status, modelled on local government, was an innovative idea in theory, which has proved less successful in practice. All parties accept the case for change, and the Bill will reform the internal architecture of the Assembly to provide for enhanced democratic accountability.1 He also expressed the belief that: The Bill delivers a lasting settlement that will settle the constitutional argument in Wales for a generation or more. Instead of constantly revising and returning to the issue of its powers and electoral arrangements, the Assembly will now be able to focus on policy development and delivery, in education, health and all the other devolved fields. The constant demand "More powers" will be redundant: they will be on the statute book when the Bill receives Royal Assent, ready for implementation after a successful referendum. Instead of powers, the real question will be: are the Welsh Assembly Government delivering or not? What are the future policies necessary to build a world-class Wales? Political arguments over policies will replace political arguments over powers, so that Welsh political culture gains full maturity.2 2 The Conservatives’ Reasoned Amendment The second reading stage of a bill provides MPs with their first opportunity to debate the broad principles which it contains. At the end of the second reading debate the House of Commons will vote on whether the bill should be proceeded with. At this stage MPs can propose that a reasoned amendment be made to the Bill, explaining why they believe the bill should be rejected at this second reading stage. 1 HC Deb, 9 January 2006, c.31 2 Ibid. c.32 1 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil A vote is taken on the reasoned amendment and if it is passed by the House then the bill is unable to continue its passage through Parliament The Conservative Party and the new Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Cheryl Gillan MP, tabled a reasoned amendment to the Bill was put down, which read. That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Government of Wales Bill because there has been inadequate consultation about the electoral arrangements proposed in the Bill; and because the Bill fails to provide for a referendum on the introduction of the Orders in Council mechanisms for conferring enhanced legislative powers on the National Assembly for Wales.3 The Secretary of State described the reasoned amendment as a "wrecking amendment" The Conservatives, at the first opportunity, are asking us to kill the Bill. They could have achieved a debate, vote and decision on their concerns by tabling three new clauses on a referendum on bringing into force the part 3 Orders in Council, and an amendment to clause 7 on dual candidacy. If they were acting in the spirit of consensus promised by the Leader of the Opposition and echoed by the shadow Secretary of State, that is what they could have done. Mrs Gillan responded: Will he confirm that he received a letter from me, dated 21 December, in which I explained in words of one syllable that although I had tabled a reasoned amendment, it should not be interpreted as opposition to every element of the Bill, and that I reassured him that where we have common ground, he could expect our support? I hope that he will acknowledge that he received that letter and that he is misrepresenting my position, because I have told him and have given him every indication that I will be supportive where I believe that we have common ground and can work constructively. Otherwise, I think that the Bill deserves detailed scrutiny at every stage.4 During the course of the debate Conservative speakers argued that the proposals to empower the National Assembly for Wales to make Measures though Orders on Council passed in Westminster constituted a radical constitutional departure and should therefore be subject to a referendum. The Shadow Attorney-General, Dominic Grieve MP, challenged the Secretary of State for Wales: The Secretary of State says that the proposal is in tune with the people of Wales and with democratic principles, but that is the very thing that the Bill is not, because it provides a mechanism for Government by Orders in Council, bypassing the scrutiny of this House and doing so without asking the Welsh people whether that is the system that they wish to have. Would he please address that issue, because it is fundamental? The Secretary of State responded that the Conservatives at Westminster were "returning to the old anti-devolution, anti-Wales, anti-Welsh Assembly politics" and highlighted an apparent contradiction of views expressed by their colleagues in