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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

We want to rebalance and rebuild our economy, moving away from an economy centred on debt and out of control public spending to a new, balanced economy where we save, invest and export—an economy where prosperity is shared among all sections of society and all parts of the country. The Budget took the decisive action needed to pay for the past—unfortunately—and plan for the future. Our first legislative programme, announced by Her Majesty last month, builds on our programme for Government. It sets out a wide ranging programme of 20 new Bills, which will benefit Wales, while taking decisive action to put Britain’s economy back on a firm footing by reducing the deficit and restoring economic growth. Time is of the essence, and the coalition Government have already started work implementing the programme. We have introduced three Bills so far. The Identity Documents Bill, which began its Committee stage this week, will restore freedoms and civil liberties by abolishing identity cards and repealing unnecessary laws. That is good news for Wales and indeed the whole United Kingdom. The two other Bills introduced so far deal with academies and local government restructuring, and do not have a direct impact on Wales. The programme is radical but efficient. It will renew the political structures of the United Kingdom, get the police back tackling crime, improve our education system and help with tackling our unprecedented deficit. The manageable number of Bills ensures that Parliament can scrutinise the legislation fully, without being overburdened. This is not legislating for the sake of it. The legislative programme is, of course, in its early stages and we have much work to do, but as the programme proceeds, let me assure Members that devolution is an important ingredient of the coalition Government’s policy making.