Government of Wales Bill

I thank the Minister for the way in which he has presented the Government’s case, both yesterday and today. I said at the outset that amendment No. 180 was probing in nature. It was designed to highlight the difference of approach in the part 4 and part 3 procedures. The Minister is right, and I accept that if the amendment were to be accepted, it would have a sclerotic effect on the way in which the Assembly functions. Although I may have serious reservations about the operation of part 3 in principle, as the Minister no doubt realises, it is not my purpose to scupper it by making it ineffective if Parliament decides it wants part 3 in place. For those reasons, I shall not press amendment No. 180 to a Division. I hope that in due course it will be possible to press amendment No. 187. I continue to have serious reservations about the scrutiny procedure. I am grateful to the Minister for the letter that he wrote to my hon. Friend the Member for Chesham and Amersham (Mrs. Gillan) on 17 January and the two memorandums attached to it, which I had an opportunity to read before they were put in the Library. They make interesting reading. I can see how the Government seek to involve the House and the Welsh Grand Committee in the formulation of policy in Wales and in taking a decision whether the Welsh Assembly should be allowed to pass an Assembly Measure. However, as I am sure the Minister recognises, the word ““amendable”” in the context of what goes on in this House usually suggests that it is possible to table an amendment and carry it by some vote or other or with the agreement of all concerned, so that the text can be varied. That, of course, is not possible under the proposed procedure, which envisages a consultation mechanism by which a draft order can be scrutinised. If individuals in the House or elsewhere—the various public bodies that the Government intend to consult—succeed in raising sufficient objection to make the Government consider that there may be a mistake in the drafting of the scope of the order, or that they may have difficulty getting the order in its present form through the House, they can redraft it and present a new order. That, as I am sure the Minister acknowledges, is not the same as an amendable order. It is an entirely different creature. In those circumstances, the House faces a possible difficulty. I shall not revisit the debate that we had yesterday on my first amendment, No. 161. That suggested to the Government that one possible way of proceeding was to hold a further vote after the Assembly Measure was drawn up and before it was submitted to Her Majesty in Council for ratification. In terms of the House having scrutiny of what is passed in Wales, that to my mind remains a better mechanism, but if that is not to be the course of action, we need to set out formally a procedure that will allow the House to undertake pre-scrutiny. The Minister worried me a little in the course of his comments, because he made it clear, rightly, that the system could be short-circuited. We will be relying on the Standing Orders of the House. No formal mechanism will be prescribed. That is not adequate. The Government need to consider what mechanism they want for the proper scrutiny process to take place. If amendment No. 187 is not a suitable vehicle for that, I look forward to a Government alternative being tabled on Report. As we are dealing with a novel area—I cannot think of previous legislation of this kind—I am not persuaded that the existing informal systems, which are enshrined only in convention and Standing Orders, are adequate. If the House is to have a proper role in deciding whether the Welsh Assembly should legislate, there is no reason why the scrutiny procedure should not be laid down in primary legislation. For those reasons, I seek to put amendment No. 187 to the vote. Even if it is not carried, it may be an inducement to the Government to consider the matter further. Subject to that, I seek leave to withdraw amendment No. 180, and to press amendment No. 187 to the vote.