BGW2 EV16

11 July 2005

The Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas
Presiding Officer
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff
CF99 1NA

Dear Lord Elis-Thomas

Trade Union Side Submission to the Better Governance of Wales White Paper Committee

Thank you for inviting the Trade Union Side (TUS) of The National Assembly for Wales to give evidence to The Better Governance of Wales White Paper Committee on 7 July.

Following a meeting of members who work in the Assembly Parliamentary Service (APS) on 11 July, I write to confirm the key points which the TUS wish to make to inform the Committee’s deliberations.

We broadly welcome the White Paper. Separation of the executive and the legislature will remove confusion on roles, responsibilities and lines of accountability. The development and enhancement of legislative powers will increase the status of the Assembly and should make the devolution settlement work more effectively. We note that much detail is missing in the White Paper, for example on who would discharge each Assembly function in the future, and respective roles in making different types of legislative orders. Nevertheless, whatever the shape of the future Assembly, we are confident that our members will give their full commitment to making the new arrangements work.

More legislation, and more significant legislation, being made by the Assembly clearly has workload implications for both staff and AMs. For example, additional expertise and capacity would be needed to handle the instructing and drafting of major pieces of legislation as well as the specialised translation work of proposed amendments to orders. An assessment should be made in the near future of the staffing implications for both the Assembly Government and APS. This assessment should include estimating the numbers of additional staff required and training needs.

We note that the Assembly will employ its own staff, but we would like to see the option of existing civil servants retaining their civil service status, for example through some kind of loan or secondment arrangement. Furthermore, any staff transferring to their new employer should have protection under TUPE arrangements.

We strongly advocate arrangements to facilitate two-way transfers in the future, for the purposes of career and professional development, and to allow staff to broaden their experience. A system of continuing two-way secondments would be desirable, as would the ability to apply for internally advertised posts. The Civil Service Commissioners have recently opened up the opportunity for freer movement of staff as between the Civil Service and Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

The statement that Assembly staff would continue to be eligible for membership of the Civil Service Pension Scheme is very much welcomed. We would urge strongly that there should be full integration into the Civil Service Scheme, rather than having a separate "by analogy" scheme. If it is the latter we could have real concerns, because of the potential problems of funding and underwriting pensions. We also wonder if the Assembly would have any say if future changes are proposed to the Civil Service Scheme.

The statement that the Assembly would be expected to maintain terms and conditions broadly comparable to those applying to Assembly Government civil servants is also welcomed. We suggest that something on the face of the Bill along the lines of Section 2 of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978 should be considered. We would advocate some kind of analogue arrangements on pay and grading, in order to facilitate two-way secondments. In addition, we would expect the Assembly to continue to recognise the existing Trade Unions and to honour collective agreements with staff until they are re-negotiated. In particular, we would expect the commitment to family-friendly policies to be maintained.

It will be important to have mechanisms in place to guard against political interference in staffing issues such as recruitment and advancement. A document similar to the Civil Service Code would be required, and it would be important for the following documents to be updated: "Code of Conduct for Assembly Members"; "Code for Members of the House Committee"; "Protocol for Relationships between Assembly Members and Assembly Staff"; "Code of Practice on the Provision of Information to Assembly Members"; and "Code of Conduct for Discussion of Assembly Business between Staff of the Presiding Office and other Assembly Staff". In addition, appointing some kind of recruitment commissioner should be considered, or alternatively getting the Civil Service Commissioners to youchsafe procedures (although their powers would need to be extended in order to do so).

Finally, we are very grateful for your offer of assistance should we want any issues raised in Parliament during the course of the Bill. We await the publication of the Bill with great interest.

Yours sincerely

Graham Pogson

Trade Union Side Chair