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Climate Change Bill [HL]

I should like the Minister to clarify one or two points. When he mentions Welsh Ministers, does he mean the office of the Secretary of State at Westminster or the Ministers of the Assembly Government in Cardiff? The Minister will remember—as will the noble Lord, Lord Crickhowell, who is a former Secretary of State for Wales and former chairman of the National Rivers Authority—our discussion on the then Government of Wales Bill. We talked about the possibility that the Welsh Assembly would before long have authority over water in Wales, just as the Scottish Parliament now has that authority. I am told that a referendum is likely to take place in the next three years, which means that there will be more devolved authority in Wales. How does the Minister see the future? Does he see another Bill to this effect? If water in Wales, as well as in Scotland, is a devolved matter, we will surely need to look at it in a different way. We do not have this legislative competence in Wales. However, I assure the Committee that, even though we do not have it now, we may one day quite soon be exercising that authority.