Government of Wales Bill

Let me continue to go through the process. The Secretary of State would forward the proposed Order in Council to the appropriate parliamentary body—for example, the Welsh Affairs Committee—in the same way as is the case when draft Bills receive pre-legislative scrutiny. It would be open for any other Select Committee to scrutinise the proposal. When draft Bills receive pre-legislative scrutiny, the Wales Office announces that the public may give their views and, if they wish, contact their Member of Parliament, who may wish to contribute to the process. Pre-legislative scrutiny would thus not be restricted to Members of the House because members of the public could contribute their views. The practice of joint scrutiny between the Welsh Affairs Committee and Assembly Committees has worked well in the past. Depending on the type of Order in Council, the Welsh Affairs Committee could choose to continue with that arrangement, or decide to examine the proposal separately. That would be a matter for the Committee, but such a process would assist in gathering the widest possible input into the consideration of the proposal. I did not mention this in my letter, but as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Bills, reports of the Welsh Affairs Committee have regularly been debated in the Welsh Grand Committee. I have noted the thoughts of my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen about that. We would encourage such debates on proposed Orders in Council. If it were felt that such a debate in the Welsh Grand Committee would help the process, we certainly would not put any obstacles in the way of that. I also agree that it is important that all hon. Members have the opportunity to comment on a proposed draft Order in Council, to ask questions about its scope and to propose ways in which amendments could be made.