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

I am pleased to see the Minister still in his place. As the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, said, he has served the requirements of Wales extremely well, particularly in a legislative sense. I am particularly sad to think that we are to lose the expertise of the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, who has made a massive contribution to Wales and to legislative matters affecting it, not least those surrounding the Welsh Language Act. That was quite a long time ago now, and an epoch-making piece of legislation. In his typically lyrical way, he has made most of the speech that I was about to make. I do not think that it is my duty to repeat the points in my contribution for my party, so, by way of illustration, I shall build on some of the points that the Minister and the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, made. The Minister said that the order makes amendments to Schedule 7 to the Government of Wales Act and sets out the subjects in relation to which the National Assembly for Wales would be able to legislate if it were given the power to pass Acts of the Assembly. As the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, said, that is subject to a referendum under Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act 2006, and he is right to refer to the agreement that the Labour Party in the Assembly and Plaid Cymru appear to be coming to about the importance of a referendum. That is particularly topical in relation to this order. Some aspects of the order have already been referred to, but I shall bring out some points that have not already been covered in detail. I agree with Article 3, which looks at the health of fish, fish products and fish feedstuffs. There is a lot of disease around in fish, particularly in freshwater fish, and it is important that we have secure and detailed legislation to protect them from some of the diseases that are rife in other countries. I understand why there is an exception for pensions. However, nuclear energy and nuclear installations are of particular interest. I feel very strongly that, in the longer term, the Assembly should have the ability to legislate on energy. When one looks at the massive opportunities in Wales for alternative energy production, whether tidal, wind or solar, even with the kind of weather that we have had recently, there is massive capacity to produce a surplus of renewable energy, yet it appears from the order that the Assembly will not be able to legislate on energy. I find that extraordinary. However, the sensibility is in nuclear energy. It is highly controversial. My interpretation of the order is that, if the Assembly were to declare itself a nuclear-free zone—and one can envisage that in certain circumstances—it could not do that so far as concerns energy production from nuclear sources. That limits the competence of the Assembly to legislate. I am not surprised that the order has been produced at this point in the legislative cycle and that the Assembly cannot approve it, because it can be approved only here in both Houses of Parliament. There are other matters of particular interest. The noble Lord, Lord Roberts, mentioned most of them, and I shall not repeat what he said. I agree with a great deal of his analysis but Article 8 of the order, for example, states: "““Under the heading Public administration, after ‘Inquiries’ insert ‘in respect of matters in relation to which the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister or the Counsel General exercise functions””." In respect of inquiries, the gas pipeline which goes across Wales from Milford Haven to Gloucester carries gas which gets the energy gap down with imported gas. It is not possible to have a public inquiry. Most of us have seen that pipeline and its devastating effect on the environment in parts of rural Wales, but the Assembly will not be able to have an inquiry. It will be a continuous situation. Not only that but, so far as I can see, we cannot have an inquiry into nuclear waste disposal. Perhaps the Minister will correct me on that, but that could be a very live and controversial topic in the future. There are a number of issues of that kind. Finally, Article 11 states: "““Under the heading Town and country planning, for the words after ‘Water supply’ substitute””," a number of things. It continues: "““Appointment and regulation of any water undertaker whose area is not wholly or mainly in Wales””." That means that the Assembly will not be able to legislate, for example, for anything within the Severn Trent Water area, which affects large tracts of mid-Wales where the reservoirs collect water for the second, I believe, most profitable water company in the United Kingdom. There are other issues as well concerning the lease of the Elan Valley water resources to that company. There are quite controversial matters in the order. We are not here to oppose them, but I hope that the points that I make expose some of them. I do not expect the Minister to be able to answer all my points but these issues need to be exposed. When the Assembly looks at these matters, it will see that this order will have restricted its room for manoeuvre, albeit after a referendum, and restrict when the Assembly may get legislative competence to do so.