Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

I preface my comments with a recognition of the Government’s gratitude to the Welsh Assembly for its pragmatism in working with us on the Bill. I hope this will promote consistency in the treatment of businesses in England and in Wales, in both reserved and devolved matters alike. I am sure the Committee will recognise that the constitutional implications are far from simple in practice. The primary authority provisions in Part 2 apply in exactly the same way to Welsh local authorities as they do to those in England. All relevant regulatory functions, be they devolved or reserved matters, fall within the scope of this scheme and within the LBRO’s oversight. This means in practice that businesses in England and Wales can depend on the consistency and certainty that the scheme will bring in important areas such as food standard regulations, where responsibility is fully devolved to Cardiff. That means that Welsh businesses will get as much from this scheme as their English counterparts; it is a two-way street. The scheme will depend on a single set of rules applying to local authorities in both countries. The relevant clauses are designed to ensure that the workings of the scheme rest upon a simple set of unified statutory instruments passed in Westminster, but does so in a way that still guarantees Welsh legitimate interests in matters which are the full responsibility of Welsh Ministers. The Bill therefore allows Welsh Ministers to withhold consent if they are not content with the shape that the scheme is taking in practice regarding matters for which—this is the point that the noble Lord was making—they are personally accountable to the Welsh Assembly and the electorate. It is not only a two-way street in terms of implementation on both sides, but a question of ensuring that Welsh Ministers can be personally accountable in some degree of comfort. A requirement merely to consult them would not give them that guarantee and would effectively mean an erosion of that aspect of the devolution settlement.