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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Housing) (Fire Safety) Order 2010

My Lords, this legislative competence order has already been approved by the other place and by the National Assembly for Wales. It has been brought forward by Ann Jones, the Assembly Member for the Vale of Clwyd. It is the second LCO to come before this House to have been brought forward by a Back-Bench Member of the National Assembly, and is supported by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Government strongly support the ability of Assembly Members to propose LCOs. It demonstrates the flexibility and versatility of the system for conferring legislative competence on the National Assembly and allows individual Assembly Members to participate directly in enhancing that competence. The order has benefited from pre-legislative scrutiny by the Constitution Committee of this House, the Welsh Affairs Committee in the other place and a committee of the National Assembly for Wales. The Government are grateful to the committees for the work they have undertaken, and I shall return to the minor changes that have been made following scrutiny in a moment. I turn to the content of the draft LCO. The order inserts a single matter into Field 11, the housing field, in part of Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act 2006. It would enable the National Assembly to legislate in relation to the provision of automatic fire suppression systems, such as fire sprinklers, in new residential premises. The LCO also sets out that "new residential premises" means premises constructed for, or converted to, residential use. However, an Assembly measure could not require retrospective fitting of fire sprinklers in existing residential premises. This is a narrowly defined order with a clear purpose. Ann Jones has said from the outset that the purpose of the LCO is to allow the Assembly to legislate to reduce the possibility of death and injury from fires in newbuild houses in Wales. She has argued that a requirement to fit such systems in all new residential premises would be a preventive measure so that people could get out of their homes safely in the event of a fire occurring. It would also reduce the risk to firefighters who are called to deal with domestic fires. Noble Lords will be aware that Parliament has already agreed that the Welsh Ministers should assume responsibility for building regulations from the end of 2011. Provision to require the installation of fire sprinklers could be made under those regulations. It is therefore important to be clear that the issue in relation to this draft LCO is whether or not the Assembly, rather than the Welsh Ministers, should decide on the installation of fire sprinklers in new homes in Wales—not the merits or otherwise of fire sprinklers themselves. I firmly believe that the Assembly should be able to decide this significant issue, and so give that decision more democratic legitimacy and accountability. I would like to reassure those who may have concerns about the possible effects of this LCO on the Welsh housebuilding industry in these difficult economic times. No one—not this Government, not the Assembly Government and certainly not Ann Jones herself—would want to place unnecessary, arbitrary burdens on Welsh housebuilders. Indeed, Ms Jones has written to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales acknowledging that there are concerns in some quarters, and committing to working with the CBI and the wider business community to ensure that any subsequent legislation is workable. I have made available copies of Ann Jones's letter for noble Lords to read. The process of making Assembly measures has built-in safeguards to ensure that laws are made sensibly. Any proposed measure brought forward as a result of this LCO would be subject to extensive consultation and rigorous impact assessment taking full account of all the issues and concerns—including the potential additional costs to housebuilding, issues about water pressure and ongoing maintenance. Only minor and technical changes only have been made to the LCO following pre-legislative scrutiny. One such change amended the name of the order to incorporate the words "fire safety". This is in line with the views of the Welsh Affairs Committee, which commented that the name of the LCO should accurately "reflect and communicate" its contents. Other minor technical drafting changes have been made purely to improve drafting. In particular, the opening words of Matter 11.1 now refer to the, ""provision of automatic fire suppression systems"," rather than to, ""provision for and in connection with a requirement"" that such systems be installed. This slightly broader wording does not limit the Assembly to requiring that automatic fire suppression systems are provided, but remains consistent with the objectives identified by Ann Jones. If this draft LCO is approved, an Assembly measure resulting from this competence could be brought forward by Ann Jones herself or the Assembly Government. The legislative competence that this LCO confers is clear and specific. Accordingly, I commend the order to the Committee and beg to move.