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Equality Bill [HL]

I warmly support Amendment No. 31. The argument in support of the amendment applies with equal force to the Scottish amendment. The commission will have six duties under Section   14, and they have been named by noble friend Lady Gale. They are delegated by paragraph 29 of Schedule 1 to the Wales Committee, and I welcome that. But the commission’s power under Section 18, to make grants to a third party in pursuance of any of the duties under Section 14, has not been delegated to the   Wales Committee. Without the funding, how can the powers under Section 14 be exercised? I turn to Amendment No. 32. The general duties of the commission in Sections 11 and 21, to promote understanding and encourage good practice, are not delegated to the Wales Committee. Wales has often been described as a community of communities. I should have thought that there could well be circumstances where the Wales Committee would be well placed to promote a better understanding between elements within the community. I do not think that I need to elaborate on that. But I would be interested to learn from the Minister the reasoning behind the non-delegation of Section 11 and Section 21 powers to the Wales Committee.