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Government of Wales Bill

Amendment No. 51 would require Assembly approval of the regulatory impact assessment code when published or revised by Welsh Ministers. Similarly, Amendment No. 52 would require the Welsh Ministers to obtain the approval of the Assembly for their report into the effectiveness of Welsh Ministers in promoting sustainable development. However, these amendments, as with the previous group of amendments we have just discussed, fail to recognise the consequences of separating the executive and the legislature—something which has been warmly welcomed by this House. A code of practice is an executive document; it is not one which requires Assembly, and therefore legislative, approval. Clause 76 places a requirement on the Welsh Ministers to make a code of practice setting out their policy on regulatory impact assessment with respect to relevant Welsh subordinate legislation. This carries forward, in essence, the requirement in Section 65 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 for subordinate legislation procedures to include provision regarding regulatory impact appraisals. It will ensure that there is a clear statement of how the costs and benefits of complying with subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers will be assessed, including consultation and when such assessments will be made. The provisions in Clauses 74 and 75 ensure that the Welsh Ministers will take account of the interests of business and the voluntary sector in addition to the    specific requirement on regulatory impact assessments. These are explicit duties—more explicit than is the case with Ministers elsewhere in the UK—and the Assembly will be perfectly capable of holding the Welsh Ministers to account for the way they exercise those duties. The report containing an assessment of the effectiveness of the scheme in promoting sustainable development is also an executive and a retrospective document and, as such, does not need Assembly, that is to say legislative, approval. I hope that in the light of this explanation, the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, will feel able to withdraw his amendment.