Government of Wales Bill

If my hon. Friend the Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (Mr. Llwyd) appears in a second, he may want to say a few words about amendment No. 25, which is more his area of competence, although sadly at the moment not that of the National Assembly. On the Under-Secretary’s suggestion, I will be pithy. Energy is topical at the moment with the publication today of the Government’s consultation paper and the energy review. As energy provision is such a vital function and a secure, diverse and sustainable supply is so important, the issue is clearly of vast interest across the nations, but there are particular interests and the nature of energy differs across the United Kingdom. Energy has of course played a very important part in the history of Wales; we have certainly produced enough of it for the rest of the UK over a couple of centuries at least. It remains a key political issue in Wales for a variety of reasons. However, there is an anomaly. Although energy remains a reserved matter, even under the Scotland Act, elements of it have been devolved and will be under the proposals in this Bill for Wales. Energy efficiency, for instance, is a devolved matter provided that it does not involve regulation or prohibition, as is energy conservation, and so on. Some elements of renewable energy are devolved and will continue to be so under the Bill. However, where there is interconnection, therein lies a problem. At the moment, projects under 50 MW onshore are devolved to the National Assembly, whereas projects bigger than that remain a reserved matter in the Department of Trade and Industry. We argue that that is not acceptable. If we are to have a comprehensive energy policy for Wales, we must have greater devolution of power. That is why we seek through this amendment to introduce a new field for energy, which will allow the National Assembly, following the enactment of this Bill, to propose Orders in Council, extending some of its competence in energy. Offshore developments are another area of increasing interest. There is an interesting feasibility study about possible tidal developments in Swansea bay and other coastal areas of Wales. Currently, and following the enactment of the Bill, such developments remain an exclusive power of the DTI. The Assembly should be enabled to propose an Order in Council to allow it greater control over such areas. Moving to the more contentious issue of nuclear power, the National Assembly for Wales should decide whether Wales sees the building of a nuclear power station. We have heard the Secretary of State for Wales express the view that he does not believe that Wales should go down the nuclear route, and similar statements have been made by the Minister for Economic Development and Transport who has responsibility for energy in the National Assembly. There is consensus among three, if not four, of the political parties—and, who knows, some of the independents as well—on the fact that we do not want Wales to go down such a route, but currently and under the Bill the National Assembly does not have the power to reject the imposition of a new nuclear power station, whether in Pembrokeshire, Camarthenshire or any other part of Wales. Surely that cannot be right. The Scottish Executive have the power under the Electricity Act 1989 to award or to reject power station consents. All we are asking in the amendment is that the National Assembly have the right to propose an Order in Council giving itself the same power as the Executives in Scotland and, indeed, Northern Ireland have.