Wales: Governance

My Lords, I warmly welcome the White Paper, and I am pleased that my noble friend Lord   Rowlands has given it an ““A-””; the people of Wales would probably do that as well. I would like to ask about legislation: if we went down the road of full legislation, we would have to have a referendum, as other noble Lords have said. I saw no great desire for further devolution among the people of Wales behind all the doors on which I knocked and the different constituencies I went to during the general election. The White Paper takes us along the devolution path that we are treading, one that would be acceptable to the majority of the people of Wales. The Statement refers to modifying legislation or making new provisions on specific matters or defined areas of policy. Everyone knows that the Welsh Assembly debated greatly banning smoking in public places. I am sure that its Members would love to do so. Would the White Paper allow them to pass such legislation without it coming through Parliament?