Y Pwyllgor Materion
Cyfansoddiadol a Deddfwriaethol
Constitutional and
Legislative Affairs Committee
|
|
|
|
Bae
Caerdydd / Cardiff Bay
Caerdydd
/ Cardiff
CF99
1NA
2 August 2011
|
Dear Colleague
Inquiry
into the Granting of Powers to Welsh Ministers in UK
Laws
The Constitutional and
Legislative Affairs Committee has agreed to carry out an inquiry
into the practice of Acts of the UK Parliament conferring powers
directly on Welsh Ministers as well as related issues
such as the operation of Devolution Guidance Notes. It will
also consider the practice of designating Welsh Ministers to make
regulations to implement European Union obligations.
The principle under
investigation is whether the National Assembly should carry the
sole responsibility for delegating such powers to Welsh
Ministers.
Background
The positive referendum result of 3 March this
year brought into force broad legislative competence for the
National Assembly. This competence is set out in detail in
Schedule 7 of the Government of Wales Act 2006. However, some
significant pieces of legislation currently before the UK
Parliament, such as the Public Bodies Bill, seek to delegate
important powers to the Welsh Ministers. It is envisaged that
Westminster legislation will continue to confer powers on Welsh
Ministers without the direct involvement of the National Assembly,
including in areas where legislative competence rests with the
Assembly.
The Committee has agreed to look at how these
arrangements operate. The Inquiry will look in particular at
the application of the Memorandum of Understanding between the UK
Government and the Devolved Administrations, at the technical
guidance for Whitehall Departments set out in Devolution Guidance
Notes and at the processes for agreeing legislative consent through
Legislative Consent Motions.
The Committee will consider what lessons from
experience so far can be applied to arrangements for delegating
powers to Welsh Ministers in the future. The Committee will
be guided by the general principle that powers should only be
granted to Welsh Ministers in devolved areas with the informed
consent of the National Assembly, which should be able to exercise
appropriate scrutiny over the process concerned.
Further background, which the Committee has
considered, is set out in more detail in the attached paper
prepared by the Assembly’s Research Service.
Invitation to Submit Written
Evidence
The Committee would
welcome your views on:
·
The extent of the
current National Assembly scrutiny of delegated powers given to
Welsh Ministers through provisions in UK Acts and through other
statutory mechanisms;
·
The extent to which
the National Assembly is able to exercise robust scrutiny of such
processes through its Standing Orders;
·
The relevance of
the UK Government’s Devolution Guidance Notes in the light of
recent Welsh constitutional developments;
·
The procedures for
Legislative Consent Motions compared to the position in the other
devolved legislatures;
·
any other matter relevant to the
Inquiry.
Responses, either in hard
copy or electronically, should be sent to the following address to
arrive no later than by 30 September 2011:
The Committee
Clerk
Constitutional and
Legislative Affairs Committee
Tŷ
Hywel
National Assembly for
Wales
Cardiff CF99
1NA
e-mail: CLA.Committee@wales.gov.uk
The Committee will
consider responses after the Assembly’s summer
recess.
Further background
information on the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee
and guidance on making a submission is attached as an annex
to this letter.
If you would like any
further information or have any queries, please contact the
Committee Clerk, Steve George on 029 2089 8242 or Olga Lewis the
Deputy Clerk on 029 2089 8154.
Yours sincerely
David
Melding AM
Chair
Constitutional and
Legislative Affairs Committee
Annex
INQUIRY
INTO THE GRANTING OF POWERS TO WELSH MINISTERS BY WESTMINSTER
LAWS
Remit of the
Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee
The
Committee’s remit is to carry out the functions of the
responsible committee set out in Standing Order 21 and to consider
any other constitutional or governmental matter within or relating
to the competence of the Assembly or Welsh Ministers
Within this, the Committee considers the political and
legal importance as well as technical aspects of all statutory
instruments or draft statutory instruments made by the Welsh
Ministers and reports on whether the Assembly should pay special
attention to the instruments on any of the grounds set out in
Standing Orders 21.2 and 21.3.
The Committee also
considers and report on the appropriateness of provisions in
Assembly Bills and UK Parliament Bills that grant powers to make
subordinate legislation to the Welsh Ministers, the First Minister
or the Counsel General.
Guidance on written
submissions
When preparing
your submission, please keep the following in mind:
Information
to include
As a general
guideline, written evidence should consist of a
self-contained
document accompanied by
a covering letter. Evidence should be presented
as concisely
as possible (a good rule
of thumb is that the memorandum should not exceed 6 pages of
A4)
The
covering letter should include:
▪
the
name and
contact details of the persons
or organisation submitting the evidence;
▪
whether the
evidence is submitted on behalf of an organisation, or as an
individual;
▪
any request to
give oral evidence;
▪
any request
that the committee treat the whole, or part, of the written
evidence as confidential,
with reasons for the request.
(The National
Assembly normally makes responses to public consultation available
for public scrutiny and they may also be seen and discussed by
Assembly Members at Committee meetings.
If you do
not want your response or name published, it is important that you
clearly specify this in your submission and your reasons for
this. However you should be
aware that it may not be given the same weight by the Committee
when considering the evidence. You should also be aware that the
information you have provided in your response to this
consultation, including company information, may be published or
disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act
2000.)
The
memorandum should contain the following
information:
▪
a
brief
summary of the main
points made in the submission
▪
a
brief
introduction to the person
or organisation submitting evidence, perhaps explaining their or
the organisation’s area of expertise
▪
any
factual
information the submitter
has to offer from which the committee might be able to draw
conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses for their
reactions
▪
any
recommendations
for action by the
Government or others which the submitter would like the committee
to consider for inclusion in its report to the Assembly.
▪
Your response
should address the issues the Committee is considering in
particular the matters set out in this invitation to submit
evidence.
(You should be
careful not to
comment on matters currently before a court of
law, or matters
in respect of which court proceedings are imminent. If you
anticipate such issues arising, you should discuss with the clerk
of the committee how this might affect the written evidence you can
submit.)
How to format
your evidence
Some points
to note:
▪
Paragraphs
should be numbered, to assist
the committee in referring to the submission during oral
evidence.
▪
If
you wish to include supplementary
material with your
memorandum—for example, leaflets, or articles from
periodicals - ensure your memorandum is nevertheless
self-contained.
▪
If
your submission uses colour, it should still make sense when
reproduced in black and white as Committee Members may make use of
photocopied versions in Committee.
▪
If
you are submitting your evidence electronically, your memorandum
should be in Microsoft
Word, rich text or PDF format.