The Committee has not scrutinised statutory instruments.
There may be occasions when we might consider it appropriate to scrutinise statutory instruments that are pursuant to primary legislation on which we have reported or that have a bearing upon previous, current or future inquiries. We do not believe however that this should become the focus or indeed a regular part of our work.
The involvement of Scrutiny Committees in scrutinising statutory instruments could serve to underline the importance of the separation of the roles of technical and merits scrutiny and the understanding of the difference between them.
At what stage do you / would you be interested in scrutinising statutory instruments- in parallel with the Subordinate Legislation Committee i.e. once they are laid or earlier in the consultation when the Government is consulting on the draft?
We are of the view that relevant legislation should be scrutinised as early as possible in the legislative process so as to permit the Committee to influence its content.
We would be happy to do so.
We would be happy for the Subordinate Legislation Committee to bring to our attention regulations that might be of particular interest to us. In determining whether to scrutinise these items we would seek legal advice and specialist policy briefing and take advice from the Committee Clerk. Should we decide to proceed, it is likely that we would consult external stakeholders who would be affected by the legislation.
Yes.
We have not undertaken post-legislative scrutiny, but would consider such a course were it deemed to be appropriate.
We note the comments of Tomorrow’s Wales in its response to the Committee’s consultation:
It is well known that the formal obligations for the UK Government departments to consult the Assembly Government during the process of framing and drafting legislation are often honoured with consultation that is late, sketchy, or both.
We recently scrutinised the Draft Apprenticeships Bill. The link to our interim response is attached:
The Bill as drafted was for England only. The written memorandum provided by the Deputy Minister for Skills informed us that it was intended that the provisions of the Bill would be subsumed in the fourth session of the Learning and Skills Bill at which stage it would be possible that references and amendments to Wales might be included.
This procedure concerned us greatly. We were of the opinion that this legislative approach was unsatisfactory and did not reflect well on the UK Government or the Welsh Assembly Government or indeed the current constitutional settlement.
Given the obfuscation of normal procedure, a much amended Bill will need to be considered at some future date. We were concerned that a precedent for the introduction of Welsh clauses to Bills might be developing, given our Legislature’s recent experience of the Planning Bill, where Welsh provisions amended the Bill at a stage too late to allow for parliamentary scrutiny in Wales.
We are therefore of the opinion that it is important that the National Assembly for Wales, where it wishes and deems appropriate, is afforded the opportunity to scrutinise Welsh provisions, including framework powers in Bills.
We note the comments of Public Affairs Cymru in its response to this consultation that communication between Clerks at Westminster and the Assembly with regard to legislative issues should be encouraged. We warmly endorse this suggestion. We would also wish to see a process for stakeholder and public consultation on the content of clauses or on the scope of legislative competence, an issue raised by the Countryside Council for Wales in its response.
Yes.
We are of the opinion that scrutiny of draft Bills is to be encouraged, given that, at an early stage, it affords greater scope to influence the legislation. It also enables us to identify constitutional issues, where there may have been a departure from normal procedure for consulting the Legislature.
We do not formally consider either, however, we monitor closely the publication and progress of draft Bills and Bills relevant to our remit.
In the case of the Draft Apprenticeships Bill, the relevant Select Committee in Parliament requested that we assist its scrutiny by providing a response. As a matter of principle we would consider all relevant requests of this nature favourably.
As stated above, we monitor closely the publication and progress of draft Bills and Bills relevant to our remit.
In undertaking scrutiny of Primary Legislation, we would request that the relevant Welsh Minister provide both written and oral evidence regarding Welsh provisions in UK Bills. In doing so we would expect to receive information on the policy background, provisions relevant to Wales, and the likely progress of the Bill. Where possible and appropriate we would also press the Minister on regulations likely to be pursuant to the enactment of the legislation.
It would greatly assist the Committee’s scrutiny were information provided by Welsh Ministers to be clear and transparent.
Yes.
Yes. We would welcome such information
We reiterate our comments on our experience of scrutinising the Draft Apprenticeships Bill and draw the Committee’s attention to issues affecting Wales outlined in the report on the draft Bill by the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmselect/cmdius/1062/1062i.pdf (pp8-9).