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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Amendment of Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act 2006) Order 2007

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Amendment of Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act 2006) Order 2007. The noble Lord said: During the passage of the Government of Wales Bill, the Government gave an undertaking to Parliament to ensure that Schedule 7 is complete and accurate, which is reported at col. 193 of the Official Report of the House of Commons for 18 July 2006. In the process of drafting this order, the Wales Office facilitated discussions between other UK government departments and the Welsh Assembly Government to confirm the content of Schedule 7, and this draft amending order is the product of those discussions. The amendments brought forward by this draft order seek to define the boundaries of the devolution settlement and not to extend it. The Government of Wales Act 2006 received Royal Assent on 25 July 2006, and since then this Government, together with the Welsh Assembly Government, have worked on a series of orders designed to bring the Act into force. The Government, noble Lords will be delighted to hear, are nearly at the end of this process. The Act provides the new Assembly with the power to pass legislation known as Assembly measures in relation to matters authorised by Parliament on a case-by-case basis. However, the Act also provides for the situation in which, subject to endorsement by a referendum, the Assembly would acquire primary legislative powers. Under Part 4 of the Act, the Assembly would be able to pass Acts of the Assembly in relation to the full range of devolved subjects without further recourse to Parliament. Those subjects are listed in Schedule 7. This order fulfils that commitment. It amends Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act 2006, Section 108, which will define the primary legislative competence of the National Assembly for Wales in the event of a successful referendum. By virtue of Section 109(4), the first Order in Council under Section 109 must be approved by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament, whereas subsequent orders must also be approved by the Assembly. This is the first order to be made under Section 109, so the approval of the Assembly is not required. The reason for this difference in procedure is that the first order amending Schedule 7 is intended to ensure that Schedule 7 is a complete and accurate description of the Assembly’s current devolved responsibilities. It is not intended to give effect to any substantive change in policy. In contrast, the purpose of subsequent orders is to provide a mechanism whereby Schedule 7 can be updated if any changes to the boundaries of the devolution settlement are agreed in future by Parliament. Future amendments to Schedule 7 will therefore properly require Assembly assent. The purpose of Schedule 7 is to define the Assembly’s competence to pass legislation—Acts of the Assembly—in the event of a ““yes”” vote in a future referendum. The Government have no current plans to hold such a referendum, which could only be triggered with the approval of both Houses of Parliament and a two-thirds majority of the Assembly. Schedule 7 lists the subjects which would be within the primary legislative competence of the Assembly, based on the current executive functions of the Welsh Ministers. If a subject is not listed, it will not be within the Assembly’s primary legislative competence, but the schedule also contains general restrictions and exceptions from those restrictions. In particular, the Assembly will not be able to legislate so as to modify any Minister of the Crown’s function without the consent of the Secretary of State. This means that, where there are isolated Minister of the Crown’s functions within subjects which are generally devolved, the protection of those functions need not be expressed by a specific reservation. I do not wish to detain noble Lords any further by going through and explaining all the modifications individually. The Explanatory Memorandum explains what each of the modifications does. I commend the draft order to the Committee, and beg to move the Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Amendment of Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act 2006) Order 2007. 19th Report from the Statutory Instruments Committee.—(Lord Evans of Temple Guiting.)