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Welsh Ministers (Transfer of Functions) (No. 2) Order 2009

I think I am grateful to my noble friend for notice of his questions. I will respond to them later when I hope to be able to respond to other contributions to the debate. I hope that he will bide a little time before we get to that stage. Some functions under the 1984 Act relating to appeals and determinations have already been transferred to Welsh Ministers. The proposed transfer will include all of the Secretary of State’s remaining functions under the 1984 Act and related secondary legislation, with a small number of specific exceptions. For example, functions are not transferred in relation to energy infrastructure buildings, except where planning functions are already devolved or where the buildings are not used to carry out an energy function—for example, houses or office buildings on the site of a power station. It will be recognised by the Committee that energy is not a devolved matter. Although energy infrastructure buildings are exempt from the building regulations, this exemption will come to an end if and when Section 5 of the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004 is brought into force. When that happens, the power to set construction standards for those buildings should remain with UK Government Ministers. The order will also transfer functions under the amended regulations made in 2000 in respect of energy performance certificates, but only in relation to certificates which are required on the construction or alteration of buildings. As I have mentioned, the 1984 Act requires the Secretary of State to appoint a Building Regulations Advisory Committee and consult the committee before making certain building regulations. It is appropriate that Welsh Ministers, when they propose to exercise the power to make building regulations for Wales, should receive advice from a committee with specific knowledge and expertise relating to Wales. The draft order therefore provides for the BRAC to be replaced by separate committees—for England and for Wales. In addition to functions under the 1984 Act and regulations, the order will transfer reporting functions under two other Acts. Section 6 of the Sustainable and Secure Buildings Act 2004 requires the Secretary of State to report on the building stock in England and Wales every two years, covering changes to building regulations and matters relating to energy efficiency, emissions, on-site energy generation and recycling. Section 14 of the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 provides for reports on steps which the Secretary of State has taken to secure greater compliance with environmental requirements of building regulations. The transfer of these reporting functions is wholly consistent with the transfer of functions under the Building Act and with the Welsh Assembly Government’s policies and strategies relating to climate change and waste. The Welsh Assembly Government have sought the devolution of building regulations as a key element in achieving its climate change and sustainable development objectives in Wales. They have begun a process of informal engagement with the public and industry, but a significant amount of work remains to be done in respect of the development of changes to the energy efficiency requirements of the regulations. The period before the order comes into force in 2011 will ensure that Wales benefits from the changes to those requirements which the UK Government propose for 2010, and give the Welsh Assembly Government the opportunity to further develop their proposals and engage with the industry in Wales. Welsh Ministers have given an assurance that they intend to continue with the current building control system and to develop changes only in respect of energy efficiency in the first two years. Welsh Ministers have further confirmed support for the UK Government’s proposals for reform of the building control system, the implementation of which may fall to Wales to implement after the transfer. There will be no budgetary transfer from the UK Government to the Welsh Consolidated Fund when the executive functions concerned transfer. The full costs of devolution in this case will be borne by the Welsh Assembly Government. The post-transfer financial consequences external to government of any proposed changes to the building regulations will be considered through regulatory impact assessment, in accordance with the statutory code of practice required under Section 76 of the Government of Wales Act. Any proposals for changes to the regulations will also be subject to consultation, in accordance with the requirements of the Building Act. The proposed transfer of building regulations functions would complement existing devolved planning and development control functions enabling the Welsh Ministers to exercise more coherent policy control over the development process, through the stages of planning, design and construction. Delivering sustainability in the built environment increasingly relies on a co-ordinated approach, taking into account matters of location, site arrangement and detailed design. The draft Government of Wales Act 2006 order recognises that the legal separation of the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government under the Government of Wales Act 2006 has required a large number of consequential modifications to other enactments. This order makes further consequential modifications to three Acts and related revocations, transitional and saving provisions. Part 2 of the order deals with modifications to British nationality legislation; Part 3 deals with modifications to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 and the Companies Act 2006. On Part 2, Articles 3 to 6 relate to Section 2(1)(b) of the British Nationality Act 1981. This provides for a child who is born overseas to a British citizen serving overseas in Crown service, or in closely associated service which has been designated by order of the Secretary of State under Section 2(3) of that Act, to be a British citizen. The present designation order is the British Citizenship (Designated Service) Order 2006. In the case of Crown service, provided that either parent is serving overseas in Crown service under the Government of the United Kingdom and was recruited for that service in the UK, their child will be at birth a British citizen. In effect, for British citizenship purposes, that means that the child will be treated as if it was born in the UK. The Government of Wales Act 2006 has established the Crown in right of the Welsh Assembly Government as a separate emanation of the Crown. Article 3 modifies the definition in Section 50 to include service under the Welsh Assembly Government as Crown service. If the order is made, service with the Welsh Assembly Government overseas will henceforth be Crown service under the Government of the United Kingdom on a par with service with the other emanations of the Crown in the United Kingdom. Consequently, Articles 4 and 5 make appropriate revocations in respect of the 2006 and 2008 orders. Article 6 makes related transitional provision to deal with children born overseas to a member of staff of the Welsh Assembly Government during the period from 25 May 2007, when the Welsh Assembly Government came into being, until 14 February 2008, when the 2008 designation order came into force. The effect of that transitional provision is that for such a child’s British citizenship, the service overseas of the parent with the Welsh Assembly Government is treated as if it had been Crown service under the Government of the UK. That means that the child will become a British citizen otherwise than by descent rather than, as at present, a British citizen by descent. Article 6 also makes a saving provision in respect of children born between 14 February 2008 and the date that the order comes into force. In that case, the effect is to ensure that the status of that child as a British citizen is unaffected by the revocation of the 2008 order. Such a child will continue to be a British citizen otherwise than by descent. Inquiries have revealed that there are three children covered by the transitional provision and four children by the saving. Turning to Part 3, Article 7 modifies Section 41 of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Section 41 provides for the relationship of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom with other courts in the UK. In particular, it provides that decisions of the Supreme Court on a devolution matter coming before it are not binding upon the Supreme Court itself but are otherwise binding in all legal proceedings. The modification to the definition of devolution matters means that it now covers proceedings before the new Supreme Court in respect of the new legislative powers of the National Assembly for Wales. Articles 8 to 12 make modifications to a number of provisions in the Companies Act 2006. Sections 54 and 1193 of the Companies Act 2006 place restrictions on companies and businesses adopting names that suggest a connection with branches of government. Articles 9 and 11 amend respectively Sections 54 and 1193 to include reference to the Welsh Assembly Government alongside the existing references to Her Majesty’s Government and others, the effect of which is that companies and businesses cannot adopt names which suggest a connection with any of those bodies or the public authorities set out in the draft Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business Names (Public Authorities) Regulations 2009. Sections 54 and 1193, which came into force on 1 October, replaced provision previously contained in Section 26(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1985 and Section 2(1)(a) of the Business Names Act 1985. The Government of Wales Act 2006 (Consequential Modifications and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007 modified those Acts so that the Welsh Assembly Government were treated for the purposes of those provisions the same as Her Majesty’s Government and the Scottish Administration. This instrument ensures that Sections 54 and 1193 of the Companies Act 2006 include the Welsh Assembly Government as well as Her Majesty’s Government and the other devolved Administrations. The Companies Act 2006 and Limited Liability Partnerships (Transitional Provisions and Savings) (Amendment) Regulations 2009, made on 9 September, contained a saving for the provisions in the Companies Act 1985 and the Business Names Act 1985 that applied in respect of the Welsh Assembly Government. That saving will now cease to have effect. Articles 10 and 12 modify respectively Sections 482 and 1231 of the Companies Act 2006. Those sections contain references to the Government of Wales Act 1998 that now need to refer to corresponding references in the Government of Wales Act 2006. Sitting suspended for a Division in the House. 4.10 pm