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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Culture and Other Fields) Order 2010

My Lords, I thank the Minister for outlining the order. Its purpose is to supply the Welsh Assembly with legislative competence in respect of ancient monuments, historic buildings, culture, sport and recreation, all of which, I am sure, are of extreme interest to the population of Wales, and are very available. Essentially, it seeks the power to impose duties on local authorities in connection with the provision of recreational, sport and cultural activities as well as the improvement and promotion of historic buildings. These are areas in which local authorities already have powers. The policy of the Assembly Government, therefore, appears to be to seek to compel local authorities to provide such services, rather than simply to encourage them to do so. Indeed, this is made clear by the Explanatory Memorandum. It states: ""Issuing guidance to local authorities (which the Welsh Assembly Government could do under existing powers) which is not backed by a statutory duty would not achieve the policy aim of the One Wales commitment"." The element of compulsion will inevitably result in additional cost to local authorities at what is, by any measure, a difficult economic time. Will the Minister indicate whether the Welsh Assembly Government intend to provide financial support to local authorities for complying with the new compulsory regime, or will the cost of compliance fall on the taxpayers? Perhaps the Minister could also assist with a further matter. The Explanatory Memorandum indicates that there is, ""a need to ensure that putting culture on a statutory footing does not create a minimum standard which could have the unwanted impact of lowering provision in some areas rather than securing improvement"." Will the Minister please explain how it is proposed that this should be done? If standards are to be prescribed by the Assembly Government, they will of necessity be minimum standards and the feared consequence might be realised. Finally, will the Minister please clarify the exceptions set out in Article 3 of the draft order? These relate to public lending right, classification of films and video recordings and betting, gaming and lotteries. The original draft LCO also included exceptions in respect of broadcasting, government indemnities for objects on loan and payment to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in respect of property accepted in satisfaction of tax apart from property in which there is a Welsh national interest. The Explanatory Memorandum records that the Government have concluded that those three exceptions, which do not appear in the draft LCO before the Committee, have been removed as they have no substantive effect on the competence conferred by it. Will the Minister please formally confirm that he still considers this to be the case and that the order, in its final form, will have no impact on any of the exceptions which have been deleted from this order? I support the order in principle and await the noble Lord’s comments.