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Government of Wales Bill

No, that would not be possible. The Order in Council specifies the area of competence of the Assembly. I emphasise to the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, that the area of competence would have been identified. The preparation of the Order in Council would require intensive pre-legislative scrutiny to identify exactly the information that Parliament would need in order to determine the range of competence and the measures which could be carried out under the order. If a measure is put forward that is beyond the competence of the Order in Council governing that area, it would not obtain the support of the Secretary of State. The Assembly would not be so foolish as to waste its time proposing a measure that it would recognise would be ruled out on the ground that it did not have the relevant competence. The case for the competence, and the understanding of Parliament of what it involves, would be assessed in the process of pre-legislative scrutiny prior to the order being presented. The noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, has spoken very articulately on this issue when we have discussed it previously. We all recognise that there are limitations regarding the debate on the Order in Council; I accept that point entirely.