2 Description of the draft
Order
5. The draft Order concerns the removal of statutory
requirements to obtain the consent or approval of the Secretary
of State or the Welsh Ministers (or in one case the Attorney General)
before local authorities are able to take action in England and
Wales in any of the four following instances:
a) Instituting prosecutions for publishing
certain advertisements concerning cancer treatment (s4, Cancer
Act 1939);
b) Amalgamating taxi licence zones within
a local authority's area (paragraph 25 of Schedule 14 to the Local
Government Act 1972);
c) Providing advice and assistance to
local government bodies overseas (s1, Local Government (Overseas
Assistance) Act 1993;
d) Handling complaints about the curriculum
provisions at a Pupil Referral Unit (paragraph 6 of Schedule 1
to the Education Act 1996).
6. The Department states that the proposals are part
of its commitment to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy for local
authorities.[3]
Extent of the draft Order's application
7. The draft Order would apply only to England and
Wales.
8. Any Order which removes a function of the Welsh
Ministers may only be made with their agreement. In response to
a question from us, the DCLG explained that the National Assembly
for Wales gave agreement in March 2007 to the making of the Order,
in accordance with s11 of the LRRA 2006 as it then stood. The
amendments to s11 by the Government of Wales Act 2006 (Consequential
Modifications and Transitional Provisions) Order 2007 came into
force on 25 May 2007, from which date s11(2) of LRRA 2006 requires
the agreement of the Welsh Ministers for any removal of their
functions. However, the consent given by the National Assembly
for Wales is a "transferred function"[4]
and has effect as if it were the agreement of the Welsh Ministers[5].
The DCLG has also advised us that the relevant Welsh Ministers
were consulted on and agreed the draft Order before it was presented
to the National Assembly for Wales in March and that Welsh Ministers
appointed following the National Assembly elections in May have
been briefed on the Order.[6]
9. We consider
that the necessary consent has been obtained from the Welsh Ministers.
3 Explanatory Document para 2.1 Back
4
By virtue of paragraph 38(1)(c) of Schedule 11 to the Government
of Wales Act 2006 Back
5
Paragraph 39 of Schedule 11 to the Government of Wales Act 2006 Back
6
Appendix B, Letter from DCLG to the Committee Clerk, response
to question 1 Back
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