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Government of Wales Bill

The political reality is that if the Secretary of State’s reasons were weak or unconvincing, he would come under considerable public pressure. In addition, the Bill provides powers for the Counsel General to refer questions to the Supreme Court—for example, whether a matter relates to a field listed in part 1 of schedule 5. However, careful thought must be given to when those powers are required. In general, we have provided such powers where the question is clearly one of legal interpretation and requires a decision of the senior judiciary, given the constitutional significance of the matter in question. In such a case, judicial review is available to anyone who thinks that the Secretary of State’s decision is unreasonable. An additional power for the Assembly or the Counsel General to refer the Secretary of State’s decision to the Supreme Court is not necessary. Furthermore, the Secretary of State’s decision is an Executive decision and is therefore qualitatively different from matters in respect of which the Bill provides a power for the Counsel General and the Attorney-General to refer questions to the Supreme Court. I have taken some time to respond to an important debate, which started last night. I hope that what I have said persuades Opposition Members that our proposal is reasonable and that we expect to have rigorous and effective pre-legislative scrutiny. I urge the hon. Member for Beaconsfield to withdraw the amendment.