Government of Wales Bill

The purpose of the amendment and the new schedule is to redefine the legislative competence of the Welsh Assembly, as an alternative to how that will be achieved by clause 93 and schedule 5. Clause 93 sets out the extent of the Assembly’s powers to make Measures. It provides that the legislative competence of the Assembly can be altered by an Order in Council, thereby amending a matter in a field of schedule 5. However, subsection (2) of clause 93 states that if an Assembly Measure makes a provision outside the Assembly’s legislative competence, it has no legal effect. Similarly, subsection (2) of clause 94 states that a field cannot be added to schedule 5 if it is one in which no functions are exercisable by Welsh Ministers, the First Minister or the Counsel General. In our opinion, that will limit the vital primary powers that we want, and that Scotland has already, over policing, administration of justice in magistrates courts and the Prison Service. Clause 93 and schedule 5 give the Assembly no powers over those important issues. Following the consultation on the future of police authorities in Wales, it was obvious that it was vital for the Assembly to have extra powers over the police. The consultation process was an absolute sham, because after three weeks we were told by the Secretary of State that there was only one option—a single police authority.