Government of Wales Bill — Power to enter into concordat — 25 Mar 1998

As amended (in the Committee), considered.

Brought up, and read the First time.

Membership

1. A person appointed under section (Assembly Corporate Body) (2)(b) shall hold office until another member of the Assembly is appointed in his place, unless he previously resigns or ceases to be a member of the Assembly otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution.

Property

2.--(1) The corporation may hold property.

(2) Subordinate legislation may provide--

(a) for the transfer to the corporation of any property to which this sub-paragraph applies, or

(b) for the corporation to have such rights or interests in relation to any property to which this sub-paragraph applies as the person making the legislation considers appropriate (whether in connection with a transfer or otherwise).

(3) Sub-paragraph (2) applies to any property belonging to a Minister of the Crown which appears to the person making the subordinate legislation to be property which is or may be required wholly or partly for the purposes of the corporation's functions.

(4) Subordinate legislation under sub-paragraph (2) in relation to any property may provide for the transfer to the corporation of any liabilities relating to the property to which a Minister of the Crown is subject and which subsist immediately before the subordinate legislation comes into force.

Staff

3.--(1) The corporation shall appoint assistant clerks and may appoint other staff.

(2) The Clerk and other persons appointed by the corporation are referred to in this Act as the parliamentary staff of the Assembly.

(3) It is for the corporation to determine the terms and conditions of appointment of the parliamentary staff of the Assembly, including arrangements for the payment of pensions, gratuities or allowances to, or in respect of, any person who has ceased to be a member of the staff.

(4) Accordingly the corporation may--

(a) make contributions or payments towards provision for such pensions, gratuities or allowances,

(b) establish and administer one or more pension schemes.

Powers

4.--(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (3), the corporation may do anything which appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of or in connection with the discharge of its functions.

(2) That includes, in particular--

(a) entering into contracts,

(b) investing sums not immediately required in relation to the discharge of its functions, and

(c) accepting gifts.

(3) The corporation may borrow sums in sterling by way of overdraft or otherwise for the purpose of meeting a temporary excess of expenditure over sums otherwise available to meet that expenditure.

(4) The corporation may borrow money only under sub-paragraph (3) and may borrow under that sub-paragraph only in accordance with the special or general approval of the Assembly.

Delegation

5. The corporation may delegate any of its functions to the Presiding Officer or the Clerk.

Proceedings and business

6.--(1) The validity of any proceedings of the corporation shall not be affected by any vacancy among the members, or by any defect in the appointment, or qualification for membership, of any member.

(2) The corporation may determine its own procedure.

(3) The Presiding Officer shall preside at meetings of the corporation, but the corporation may appoint another of its members to preside if the office of Presiding Officer is vacant or the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.

Crown status

7.--(1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the corporation to be treated to any extent as a Crown body for the purposes of any enactment.

(2) In particular, the Order may for the purposes of any enactment provide--

(a) for employment under the corporation to be treated as employment under the corporation as a Crown body,

(b) for land held, used or managed by the corporation, or operations carried out by or on behalf of the corporation, to be treated (as the case may be) as land held, used or managed, or operations carried out by or on behalf of, the corporation as a Crown body.

(3) For the purpose of this paragraph, "Crown body" means a body which is the servant or agent of the Crown, and includes a government department.

It being half-past Seven o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the Order [15 January] and the Resolution [this day], put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

(a) the Assembly First Secretary, who shall chair it, and

(b) the Assembly Secretaries.

(2) The committee shall be known by such title as the standing orders may provide (but is referred to in this Act as the executive committee).

(3) The Assembly First Secretary shall allocate accountability in the fields in which the Assembly has functions to members of the executive committee so that, in the case of each of those fields, accountability in the field is allocated either to one of the Assembly Secretaries or to him.

(4) The Assembly First Secretary need not make an allocation under subsection (3) to every member of the executive committee; but the number of Assembly Secretaries to whom no such allocation is made shall not exceed such number as may be specified in, or determined in accordance with, the standing orders.

(5) For the purposes of this section and section ( Subject committees ) "accountability", in relation to a member of the executive committee and a field, means that he is the member of the executive committee accountable to the Assembly (in accordance with standing orders under subsection (7)) for the exercise of the Assembly's functions in that field, except the exercise of functions by the executive committee (or by the Assembly itself).

(6) The Assembly First Secretary is accountable to the Assembly (in accordance with standing orders under subsection (7)) for the exercise of functions by the executive committee.

(7) The standing orders must include provision for allowing Assembly members to question (orally or in writing, as Assembly members prefer)--

(a) each member of the executive committee about the exercise of the Assembly's functions in the field or fields in which he is accountable, except the exercise of functions by the executive committee (or by the Assembly itself), and

(b) the Assembly First Secretary about the exercise of functions by the executive committee.

(8) In this section--

(a) references to the exercise of functions by the executive committee include the exercise of functions by a sub-committee of that committee or by members of the Assembly's staff in pursuance of a delegation to the Assembly's staff by either that committee or such asub-committee, and

(b) references to the exercise of functions by the Assembly itself include the exercise of functions by members of the Assembly's staff in pursuance of a delegation to the Assembly's staff by the Assembly itself.'.-- [Mr. Jon Owen Jones.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

the same; and the member of the executive committee who has accountability in the field or fields in which a subject committee has responsibilities shall be a member of that subject committee.

(5) The Assembly shall elect a number of Assembly members to be a panel from which the members who are to chair the subject committees are to be selected; and the members of the panel shall be elected so as to secure that, as far as is practicable, the balance of the parties in the Assembly is reflected in the membership of the panel.

(6) The number of members of the panel at any time shall be equal to the number of subject committees at that time; and each member of the panel shall be selected to chair one (but not more than one) subject committee.

(7) A subject committee shall have such number of members (in addition to the person who is a member of the committee by virtue of subsection (4) and the member who chairs it) as the standing orders may provide.

(8) Those other members shall be elected by the Assembly from among the Assembly members so as to secure that, as far as is practicable, the balance of the parties in the Assembly is reflected in the membership of the committee (including the person who is a member by virtue of subsection (4) and the member who chairs it).'.-- [Mr. Jon Owen Jones.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael J. Martin):

With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following: Government new clause 17-- Transfer of responsibility.

It being a quarter to Eight o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker , pursuant to the Order [15 January] and the Resolution [this day], put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

include provision for the Lord Chancellor to make such arrangements as appear appropriate for the transfer of Welsh public records, or Welsh public records of that description, which are in--

(a) the Public Record Office, or

(b) a place of deposit appointed under the Public Records Act 1958,

to a place specified in, or appointed under, the order.

(5) No order shall be made under this section unless the Lord Chancellor has consulted the Assembly.'.-- [Mr. Dowd.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

(3) An order under subsection (1)(f) may be made in relation to a description of records--

(a) which (immediately before the order is made) are public records for the purposes of the Public Records Act 1958, or

(b) which (at that time) are not public records for those purposes.

(4) No order under subsection (1)(f) may be made in relation to records within subsection (3)(a) unless the Lord Chancellor has consulted the Assembly; and no such order may be made in relation to records within subsection (3)(b) unless the Assembly has resolved that the Lord Chancellor be requested to make the order.

(5) In this section "records" includes not only written records but records conveying information by any other means whatsoever.'.-- [Mr. Dowd.]

Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this, it will be convenient to discuss amendment No. 204, in clause 64, page 31, line 33, leave out from 'consultation' to 'is' in line 34.

Question put and agreed to .

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill .

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

The clause fulfils the undertaking that I gave to the right hon. Member for Caernarfon (Mr. Wigley) on 2 March in response to an amendment that he had moved. The new clause clarifies that the assembly will have power to promote or oppose private Bills in Parliament, but the clause does not confer on the assembly the power to make primary legislation. It will be able to promote only a private Bill in Parliament.

Subsection (2) of the new clause provides for a decision by the assembly to promote or oppose a private Bill in Parliament to require a two-thirds majority. That is appropriate in order to ensure that the decision by the assembly to promote or oppose a Bill is not taken lightly. I hope that the hon. Gentleman accepts that explanation.

As I said in Committee, we have looked further at the interaction between an explicit power for the assembly and the Transport and Works Act 1992. Subsection (3) deals with that. It provides that the new clause does not cause the assembly to have power to apply for orders under section 103 of the 1992 Act by virtue of section 20 of that Act, because that would, in effect, give the assembly primary powers--and I know that the hon. Gentleman would not want me to do that.

8.30 pm

It being half-past Eight o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker, pursuant to the Order [15 January] and the Resolution [this day], put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair.

Clause read a Second time, and added to the Bill.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 6-- Reports prepared under Part IV --

It being Nine o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker , pursuant to the Order [15 January] and the Resolution [this day], put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair.

Question negatived.

I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.

Mr. Deputy Speaker:

With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following: new clause 9-- Concordats between the Assembly and Departments of State --

The right hon. Member for Devizes quoted from it earlier--but I did not find that it answered the one basic question that I would like answered.

It being Ten o'clock, Mr. Deputy Speaker , pursuant to the Order [15 January] and the Resolution [this day], put forthwith the Question already proposed from the Chair.

The House divided: Ayes 129, Noes 309.

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