House of Commons - Welsh Affairs

Select Committee on Welsh Affairs First Report

Reports and Inquiries

5. Scrutiny of Government policy is a core task of select Committees. During 2004, the Committee was involved in six major inquiries, and published four substantive reports in addition to our annual report to the House.[10] Those inquiries were the Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, the Provision of Rail Services in Wales, the Draft Transport (Wales) Bill, the Powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales, Manufacturing and Trade in Wales, and Police Service, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in Wales. In 2004 we reported on the Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, the Provision of Rail Services in Wales, the draft Transport (Wales) Bill and the Powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales. We expect to publish our report on Manufacturing and Trade in Wales early in 2005; and to report on Police Service, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in Wales later in the year.

6. Those inquiries covered the work of the Home Office, Department for Education and Skills, the Department for Transport, the Department for Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. That coverage demonstrates that our role is greater than merely scrutinising the Wales Office, and that we cast our net widely in scrutinising Government policy that directly affects Wales.

THE EMPOWERMENT OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN WALES

7. At the beginning of 2004 we published our Report on the Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales.[11] That Report was the culmination of a lengthy inquiry in 2003 which considered how children and young people in Wales are encouraged to participate in Welsh society; and the impediments to that participation. It considered political engagement with young people and the debate surrounding desirability of lowering the voting age; youth justice; the role of the Children's Commissioner for Wales; the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the current working relationship between Westminster and the National Assembly for Wales on those issues.

8. In previous reports the Liaison Committee highlighted the desirability of committees following-up recommendations from previous reports. One of our recommendations in the report on the Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales was that the Government "include in any Bill to establish a Children's Commissioner for England, Clauses to extend the powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales to cover all non-devolved areas of policy for children and young people in Wales".[12] In its response to that report the Government confirmed its intentions to introduce a Children Bill with provisions to establish an Children's Commissioner for England whose remit would extend to Wales on non-devolved matters.[13]

THE POWERS OF THE CHILDREN'S COMMISSIONER FOR WALES

9. On 3 March 2004 the Government presented the Children Bill to Parliament, which contained provisions to establish a Children's Commissioner for England. The remit of that Commissioner would include non-devolved matters in Wales.

10. The Children Bill was first considered by the House of Lords. During the Bill's passage there, we undertook scrutiny of those clauses relating to the establishment of a Children's Commissioner for England, and the impact that they would have on the Children's Commissioner for Wales. We took evidence from the Welsh Assembly Government Minister responsible for children and young people in Wales, the Children's Commissioner for Wales, and the UK Government Minister for Children, Young People and Families. We also received written evidence from a wide number of children's organisations in Wales. That evidence demonstrated a clear difference of opinion between the National Assembly for Wales, and Welsh children's organisations on the one hand, and the UK Government on the other, on how best to represent children and young people in Wales.

11. Our report was published in time for the Second Reading debate on the Bill in the House of Commons.[14] We reflected the widely-held belief that the Children's Commissioner for Wales should have a remit that covered fully all aspects of Welsh children's lives, and recommended that the Government amend the Bill accordingly. Despite the consensus in Wales on this issue, the Government did not give way. Although we accept that the Government won the day, we continue to believe that a key role for the Welsh Affairs Committee is to assess the views of Wales, and the National Assembly, and where we are convinced by the argument, to make recommendations to the UK Government at Westminster.

THE PROVISION OF RAIL SERVICES IN WALES

12. Welsh transport issues have long been a major concern of the Welsh Affairs Committee. It has now published six reports on Government policy in that area.[15] In March 2004, we published our report on the Provision of Rail Services in Wales, the latest in that series of inquiries.[16]

13. Our report on the Provision of Rail Services in Wales considered the rail infrastructure in Wales, service levels provided by Train Operating Companies, Government and EU funding, and the award of the Wales and Borders Franchise. It also reiterated previous recommendations that powers of guidance and direction over the Strategic Rail Authority be conferred on the National Assembly for Wales, alongside powers to appoint one or more members of the Strategic Rail Authority, and powers to enable it to appoint statutory consortia of passenger transport boards should that prove to be beneficial to an integrated transport policy for Wales.

14. A paper trail on those recommendations would highlight the consistent approach that the Welsh Affairs Committee has taken on transport issues. Furthermore, it would demonstrate that Welsh Affairs Committees, past and present, have been resolute in their determination to influence Government policy on transport in Wales. That determination was rewarded with the publication of the draft Transport (Wales) Bill, the provisions of which contained many of the recommendations made by the Committee.

15. We discuss the draft Transport (Wales) Bill in our section on legislation.[17]

MANUFACTURING AND TRADE IN WALES

16. Our major inquiry for 2004 was into manufacturing and trade in Wales. Manufacturing is vital to the economic health of Wales and so we decided to assess the health of manufacturing in Wales, and how governmental policy was nurturing and supporting Wales' manufacturing base. The inquiry concentrated on how Wales has transformed its traditional industrial economies to reflect modern manufacturing; Foreign Direct Investment in Wales; the role of research and development in job and wealth creation; and links between universities and the productive economy.

17. During 2004 we took evidence on ten occasions, both in Wales and England. Those evidence sessions included witnesses from large and small manufacturing companies, academics involved in technology transfer and Ministers from both the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. We also visited a large number of companies in Wales to experience, at first hand, the benefits and challenges that face manufacturing in Wales. The Committee is now considering its findings and hopes to report in the near future.

POLICE SERVICE, CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN WALES

18. In the autumn of 2004 we began an inquiry into the Police Service, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in Wales. The inquiry focuses specifically on the National Policing Plan and its relevance to Wales, strategies in tackling anti-social behaviour in Wales, and the division of powers and the working relationship between the UK Government and the National Assembly for Wales on policing matters.

19. To date, the Committee has held nine evidence sessions from a range of witnesses, including the four Welsh Chief Constables, Home Office Officials and a variety of officials from partnership agencies; including Community Safety Partnerships and Criminal Justice Boards. We have also held informal briefings with the Police Standards Unit, Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary and the retired Home Office Director for Wales. In 2005 we expect to take evidence from a variety of victims and offender organizations, and both Home Office and Welsh Assembly Government Ministers.

20. We visited two of the four Police Force Areas in 2004, meeting officers at all levels, visiting urban and rural stations, and receiving briefings from specialized units within the Force. We hope to visit the other two Force areas in Wales in 2005.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

21. In our last two annual reports we have set out the Government's performance in responding to our reports within the two-month deadline. The response to our report on the Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales was received within the two month deadline, as was the response to our report on the Provision of Rail Services in Wales. The response to our report on the Powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales was received only marginally outside that deadline. The response to the Committee's report on the draft Transport (Wales) Bill was one and a half months late. The Government's new rail strategy, which was announced as we published our report, meant that large sections of the draft Bill had become obsolete. The Government wished to respond in a positive manner to the changes that needed to be made to the draft Bill. Therefore, we took a more lenient view of the delay than we would normally have done.

22. Overall this represents an improvement upon the previous year's performance.

23. The Welsh Assembly Government continues to respond to our reports by means of an oral statement at the National Assembly. We welcome its continued interest in our work.

Future Programme

24. Our main inquiry for the first half of 2005, will be the continuation of our inquiry into the Police Service, Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour in Wales. We also will take advantage of the powers of joint working to scrutinise the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Bill with the Local Government and Public Services Committee of the National Assembly for Wales.

Welsh Language

25. Under certain circumstances, the Committee is entitled to conduct its proceedings in Welsh. We continue to take oral evidence in Welsh when a witness requests. Welsh is also used during formal joint working with Committees of the National Assembly for Wales. However, that entitlement does not extend to the production of bi-lingual reports.

Examination of the Expenditure and Administration of the Wales Office

26. On 29 June 2004 we took evidence from the Secretary of State for Wales and his senior officials on the Wales Office Departmental Report.[18] It is our practice to receive in advance of that evidence session, a memorandum from the Wales Office that covers the detailed information on the policy, finance and administration of the Department. This gives us the opportunity to question the Secretary of State and his officials on wider issues and themes. This year, our evidence session concentrated on the relationship between the Wales Office and the Department of Constitutional Affairs, which had taken over responsibility for Wales Office personnel and current financial services; the relationship between the Wales Office and the National Assembly for Wales and the role played by the Wales Office in legislation at Westminster that affects Wales.

Legislation

27. A core task of select Committees identified by the Liaison Committee is "the scrutiny of any published draft bill within the committee's responsibilities".[19] This is a task that the Welsh Affairs Committee takes seriously. The Government has developed the practice of publishing one draft Bill for Wales in each session of Parliament and we have undertaken to scrutinise each those draft Bills as and when they are published.

28. In 2002 we scrutinised the draft National Health Service (Wales) Bill and in 2003 we scrutinised the draft Public Audit (Wales) Bill. Scrutiny of those draft bills was conducted in parallel, but separate to, scrutiny by the relevant NAW committee because collaboration between the Committees was limited to informal meetings. That situation was not satisfactory either to ourselves or to witnesses. Our experience of scrutiny of the draft Public Audit (Wales) Bill highlighted the fact that the key witnesses gave identical evidence to the two Committees in the same week. Although accommodating witnesses is not a committee's highest priority that situation was grossly inefficient.

JOINT WORKING WITH THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES

29. In March 2003 we published a report on the effectiveness and efficiency of the current process of passing legislation for Wales, at Westminster.[20] One set of recommendations in that report addressed the then limitations for joint working between Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. In particular, we recommended that House of Commons procedures should be amended to allow for formal joint working between the Welsh Affairs Committee and the Committees of the National Assembly on issues of mutual interest. Formal joint working offered the opportunity to scrutinise legislation from both the perspective of Parliament as the legislator and the National Assembly as the implementer.

30. We wrote to the Procedure Committee with our proposals for those changes. In October 2003 the Chairman of the Committee and the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly wrote a joint letter to the Chairman of the Procedure Committee reinforcing the support of both this Committee and the Panel of Chairs of the National Assembly for formal joint working

31. The result was the establishment of a joint working group of officials from the House of Commons and the National Assembly for Wales to examine the procedural and practical implications of our proposals. The Procedure Committee then considered the findings of the working group alongside a Memorandum from the Clerk of the House. The solution proposed by the working group was termed "reciprocal enlargement", whereby Assembly Members could be invited to take part in House of Commons proceedings or vice versa. Those activities would count as proceedings of the host body, chaired by one of its members and governed by its rules.

32. On 11 May the Procedure Committee published its report on joint working and recommended that:

"Until the end of the current Parliament, the Welsh Affairs Committee should be authorised to invite members of any specified committee of the National Assembly for Wales to attend and participate in its proceedings (but not to vote), subject to a quorum of both committees being present".

33. On Monday 7 June 2004, the House of Commons agreed to the Procedure Committee's report.[21] That decision allowed us to enlarge the Welsh Affairs Committee to include members of the National Assembly's Committees. On 15 June 2004, the National Assembly for Wales agreed similar changes to its procedures to allow for a reciprocal enlargement.[22]

34. We thank the House for approving the recommendation to allow formal joint working with Committees of the National Assembly. We look forward to the House making joint working a permanent feature of our work in the next Parliament.

35. The draft Transport (Wales) Bill was the first to be scrutinised by ourselves and a Committee of the National Assembly under the reciprocal enlargement procedures. We held two meetings at the National Assembly under the rules of the Economic Development and Transport Committee of the National Assembly, and three meetings at Westminster under our rules.

36. Joint formal working was recognised as a success by all concerned. Don Touhig MP, Wales Office Minister, who gave evidence to the Committees described it as "a better arrangement" and that it was "the way forward".[23] The Rt. Hon. Peter Hain, speaking in the Welsh Grand Committee on the draft Bill also noted "that those who participated in the joint meetings found it beneficial".[24] Bill Wiggin MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, also noted that joint working was more time-efficient and avoided duplication.[25]

37. Our experience was that formal joint working demonstrated a significant enhancement to scrutiny of draft legislation that affects Wales. We set out that view in our report on the draft Bill, and it is worth repeating:

"This was the first time that a House of Commons Committee has met formally with a Committee of a devolved administration to scrutinise a draft Bill. Those meetings demonstrated an innovative and progressive approach to pre-legislative scrutiny. We were able to mirror the cooperation of the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government in their preparation of the draft Bill. Furthermore it avoided the unnecessary duplication of evidence that marked scrutiny of previous "Wales only" draft Bills. We thank the House of Commons and the National Assembly for Wales for agreeing to our request for joint working and we look forward to further successful joint meetings in the future".[26]

38. In the forward to the Report from the Economic Development and Transport Committee, Christine Gwyther the Chair of the Committee agreed that joint working was a success:

"We also very much welcomed the opportunity to work with the Welsh Affairs Committee of the House of Commons in undertaking this scrutiny of the draft Bill and the friendly and constructive way both Committees went about bringing our different procedures into harmony".[27]

DRAFT TRANSPORT (WALES) BILL

39. The draft Transport (Wales) Bill was published on Thursday 27 May. The draft Bill proposed to place on the National Assembly a general transport duty and a requirement to prepare and publish a Welsh Transport Strategy; and to confer on the National Assembly further powers in the field of transport. Those powers included the ability to create joint transport authorities in Wales and to provide financial assistance for public transport and for air services and facilities. It would also confer on the National Assembly, powers of direction and guidance over the Strategic Rail Authority with respect to the Wales and Borders franchise.

40. In three separate reports, this Committee and its predecessor, recommended that powers of direction and guidance over the Strategic Rail Authority be conferred on the National Assembly for Wales.[28] The inclusion of Clauses to that effect in the draft Bill represented a victory for the persistence of the Welsh Affairs Committee.

41. The timetable for scrutiny did not allow for additional meetings to consider our findings and those of the National Assembly Committee. However, we were able to agree, informally, on the main thrust of our recommendations and the result was two independent reports whose recommendations dovetailed neatly.

42. Formal joint working enabled ourselves and our counterparts at the National Assembly to scrutinise draft legislation from the perspectives of both Westminster and Cardiff. It also enabled us to mirror the joined-up approach to the draft Bill that was undertaken by the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government. It was a successful venture and one that witnesses, including Ministers, enjoyed.

43. The timetable for scrutiny of draft Bills remains a concern. Our reports on draft legislation need to be published in time for a debate on the draft Bill in the Welsh Grand Committee; usually in the last week before the Summer Recess. All three draft Bills for Wales have been published late in the parliamentary year which presented us with a very tight deadline. Our report concluded that:

"Wales-only Bills are important, but modestly sized. With better planning it should be possible to publish Bills in draft form earlier in the Parliamentary year. We recommend that the Government moves forward its timetable for the publication of Wales-only draft Bills so that we and our counterparts in the National Assembly may be given a suitable period of time within which to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny".[29]

The added administrative tasks that come with joint working increase the importance of being given a longer period of time for pre-legislative scrutiny.

Other Links with the National Assembly for Wales

44. Wherever possible, we consult with our colleagues at the National Assembly We continued this practice during 2004. We took formal evidence from Jane Hutt, the National Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services as part of our inquiry into the Powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales; and from Andrew Davies, the National Assembly Minister for Economic Development and Transport as part of our inquiry into Manufacturing and Trade in Wales.

45. In addition to formal evidence we held two meetings with the National Assembly's Panel of Chairs,[30] to discuss matters of mutual interest.

Visits to Wales

46. Six of our thirty-nine formal meetings were held in Wales. We also held many informal meetings with individuals and organisations in Wales.[31] Over the course of the last year we met with individuals and organisations in Pembroke, Milford Haven, Cardiff (on several occasions), Swansea, Port Talbot, Merthyr Tydfil, Bangor (twice), Llanberis, Wrexham (twice), Broughton, Llangefni, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Ruthin, Llangollen. We regard these meetings as vital to our inquiries and they ensure that we can accurately gauge the views and concerns of the people of Wales.

Conclusion

47. In 2004 we continued to scrutinise Government policy, across a number of Departments, which affects Wales. We also scrutinised both legislation and draft legislation that would have an impact on Wales. With the establishment of formal joint working we have also enhanced the role that we play in providing a voice for Wales at Westminster. We look forward to building on these achievements in 2005.

10 See Annex 1. Back

11 First Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, HC177 of Session 2003-04. Back

12 Ibid., Para 105 Back

13 Second Special Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Government Response to the First Report of the Committee Session 2003-04: The Empowerment of Children and Young People in Wales, HC459 of Session 2003-04. Back

14 Fifth Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Powers of the Children's Commissioner for Wales, HC538 of Session 2003-04. Back

15 First Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, Public Transport in Wales, HC35 of Session 1984-85; Second Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Channel Tunnel: Implications for Wales, HC191 of Session 1988-89; Fourth Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, Rail Services in Wales, HC262 of Session 1990-91; Second Report from the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Transport Bill and its Impact on Wales, HC287 of Session 1999-2000; Second Report of the Welsh Affairs Committee, Transport in Wales, HC 205 of Session 2001-02; and Third Report of the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Provision of Rail Services in Wales, HC 458 of Session 2003-04. Back

16 Third Report of the Welsh Affairs Committee, The Provision of Rail Services in Wales, HC 458 of Session 2003-04. Back

17 See paras 39 to 43 Back

18 Minutes of Evidence for Wednesday 25 June 2003, The Wales Office Departmental Report 2003, HC883 of Session 2002-03. Back

19 First Report from the Liaison Committee, Annual Report 2003, HC446 of Session 2003-04, para 6. Back