Wales bill reaches its final hurdle
A law granting major new powers to the Welsh assembly is today reaching its final stage, although Welsh secretary Peter Hain has warned it is “on a knife-edge”.
The government of Wales bill is returning to the House of Lords for final approval this afternoon, after which ministers hope it will be granted royal assent tomorrow.
However, the bill has proved highly controversial, and the Conservatives led the Lords to defeat the government on three aspects last month. MPs voted to overturn these last week, following a new compromise, but the government remains nervous.
The bill would give the assembly greater power to legislate in certain areas from next year, with parliament agreeing each area on a case by case basis, and would allow a referendum on taking on primary legislative powers at a later date.
Two-thirds of AMs and a majority of both Houses of Parliament would have to agree to such a referendum, but if it went ahead and the public agreed, the Welsh assembly would be given devolved powers on a par with Scotland.
The bill would also formally separate the executive and legislative branches of the assembly – effectively creating a formal government of Wales.
In addition, it would prohibit assembly candidates from standing in a constituency and putting their names on a political party’s list of names – the government argues rejected candidates should not be able to get in “by the back door”.
Peers in the House of Lords had rejected this last measure in favour of the status quo, but this was overturned by the House of Commons last week by a majority of 81 votes.
In June, the upper House also voted against the government to give the assembly more freedom to decide the party balance on committees and to ensure the Welsh National assembly commission – effectively the civil service – was also politically balanced.
Opposition parties had warned that the changes to the candidacy process were designed to benefit Labour, while the proposed committee set-up would have given Labour too much power.
After a series of discussions with the Liberal Democrats, the government conceded the point on committees and also agreed for there to be “fair representation” by opposition parties on the new audit committee.
Speaking after this package was approved in the House of Commons last week, Mr Hain said he hoped it meant the government of Wales bill would be ready before the summer recess began on Wednesday.
“But the vote in the House of Lords remains on a knife-edge, and passage of the bill cannot be guaranteed,” he said.
He added: “I hope the Conservatives will now join the other parties in Wales to make the assembly’s new powers work instead of pursuing old arguments. Unless this legislation is in place by the summer, the assembly’s new powers could be put in jeopardy.”
