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Legislative Programme and Budget Statement (Wales)

I am awfully sorry. The right hon. Gentleman has been a Member for a long time and has a lot of experience, but I am informed that that is not the case. There was a period of a week when the LCO could have gone through, and it was with some delight that it was left until the wash-up period. All I can say is that we are now putting that LCO through, unamended, because we have an undertaking from the housing Minister Jocelyn Davies who recognised our difficulties with parts of the LCO and gave undertakings that helped us to fulfil the Assembly Government’s ambitions while respecting our concerns. The Prime Minister chaired a successful meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee earlier this morning, something the previous Prime Minister never did. It has now been agreed that we are to meet regularly to consider matters of common mutual interest. We have injected a new seriousness into these structures and I believe it is important to work with people and Administrations across the United Kingdom to make sure that devolution works. As the Prime Minister made clear, this is respect in practice; it is solid proof of this Government’s commitment to work in collaboration with the devolved institutions and to integrate devolution in our policy making. One of the biggest issues on my desk on my arrival as Secretary of State for Wales was the referendum. Let me make my position clear. The referendum is a priority for the coalition Government and for me as Secretary of State. Many members of the Committee share my eagerness to hold a referendum, but it needs to be carried out correctly in line with the procedures set up by the right hon. Member for Neath when he was in power. We must ask an understandable question and ensure that the people of Wales have information so that they can make an informed decision. The preparation work needs to be thorough to minimise any risk of legal challenge. Following my appointment, the preparation work for the legal instrument for the referendum order continued as it had been started by the right hon. Gentleman, and work on the question began. In less than eight weeks I have worked to identify when the referendum can be held without compromising the integrity of the process and have announced that I believe that a referendum could be held in the first quarter of 2011, subject to approvals in the parliamentary processes.