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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Welsh Language)

I wonder if you could advise me on something, Mr. Jones. The Secretary of State has moved the motion to discuss the report produced by the Welsh Affairs Committee. We have received a copy of a letter, dated 5 October, that was written to the Chairman of that Committee from the Secretary of State. It states that the Welsh language competence order, which was the subject of scrutiny, has been changed. Furthermore, we have received a written statement from the Welsh Assembly Government, which also changes the subject matter of that order. Paragraph 12 of the Select Committee’s ninth report, which we are debating, states: ““It is possible that there will be significant changes to the wording of the draft Order after the pre-legislative scrutiny period and should this be the case, the Committee would wish to return to the draft Order to give consideration to any substantial changes that have been made.”” From the two documents, it is clear that substantial changes have been made to the order. I presume that the Secretary of State is not going to quarrel with the recommendation of the Select Committee. I understand that the Select Committee met yesterday, but we still do not know the outcome of that meeting. We do not have an order to look at, and the report has been superseded by what has passed on through formal documentation, although what legal status it has I do not know. May I ask you for a ruling, Mr. Jones, as to whether it would be more sensible, in the interests of Wales, the Welsh people and doing proper justice for the Welsh language that we delay this sitting of the Welsh Grand Committee until possibly next week. It is not a question of delaying proceedings; it is just so that we can have the right documentation in front of the Committee... It was not a point of order.