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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Education and Training) Order 2008

My Lords, I can be brief, as the points that I proposed to make have been made already, particularly in relation to the way in which this order meets the three criteria set out by my noble friend Lord Rowlands. I am happy to join other noble Lords in the celebration. I think that I shall join the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, at the party she talked about. It was good to have her considerable medical experience applied to this order. I welcome the order, but I particularly welcome the process. It is clear that the process in respect of this order has been enormously painstaking and lengthy, as the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, said. Perhaps one should not expect quite such a painstaking series of hurdles in future. In Wales, I suspect that there was always a temptation to be different for its own sake. Clearly, many special educational needs will be the same on both sides of the border. But the joy of the Assembly is that it has been able to experiment and, in a pioneering way, has lighted the path for others, such as with the Children’s Commissioner; it is good that he supports this. Yes, I very much approve of the process. This is a first. This is not big-bang devolution, which many of us would have been concerned about. This is the British way of doing it: step by step and following the process. I believe that the Assembly and others involved have done us a great service. Clearly, we can now look forward to this same process being used in other ways. So, yes, I am happy to join the party.