Government of Wales Bill

moved Amendment No. 8: Page 57, line 36, at end insert- ““( ) The Secretary of State shall lay an order under subsection (6) not later than 30th June 2010.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, this amendment also stands in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff. It comes from the body Tomorrow’s Wales, Cymru Yfory. It is very important in that it highlights a timetable for the legislation to come into being, as recommended in the Richard commission report. The amendment requires the Secretary of State to lay a draft order for a referendum by 30 June 2010. That should allow the referendum to be held in time for the Assembly, which is expected to be elected in May 2011, to assume the Part 4 powers of the Bill, which, as we know, give primary legislative powers to the Assembly. I can certainly see why the present Government would feel partly hamstrung—perhaps more so—by the imposition of a date, but they would be wrong to think that they might be in power for ever. Perhaps a Government of a different political persuasion would act to hold a referendum at the moment when they were least likely to succeed in granting more powers to the Welsh Assembly. That would be possible. In fact, one could say that the present Secretary of State is looking for the opposite—that is, for an opportunity to hold a referendum at the most propitious time. We believe it would be desirable to take the power on when a referendum is held away from the politicians and to put it into statute, stating that it should occur by 30 June 2010. It was considered in the Richard commission report, and the timescale seems sensible. It would give certainty to when it might be possible to bring the powers in Part 4 of the Bill into being, for that to be voted on in a referendum and then to ensure the smooth transition to primary legislative powers for the Welsh Assembly. I beg to move.