Clause 1 - Application of Part V of theCare Standards Act 2000
Children's Commissioner for Wales Bill
11:00 am
Mr Robert Walter (North Dorset, Conservative)
It is my pleasure to speak to the amendments to clause 1. In doing so, I may deal with some of the points raised by the hon. Member for Bridgend and, I hope, provide him with some clarification.
We tabled the amendments in a positive way. Reference has been made to the reasoned amendment that we tabled on Second Reading, when we said that we had reservations about the Bill. Those reservations relate not to the Children's Commissioner for Wales or to his being empowered in the ways requested by the National Assembly for Wales and a number of charitable and voluntary bodies in Wales, but to some of the Bill's limitations. Hence we tabled the amendments, some of which I shall deal with in a moment.
My position is a positive one. As I mentioned on Second Reading, I was a member of the Select Committee on Health that recommended that we should have a children's rights commissioner for the whole United Kingdom, not only for Wales. Many of our amendments will address that point, while recognising that the Bill relates to the Children's Commissioner for Wales, amending the Care Standards Act that was passed by this House during the previous Session.
We welcome the appointment of Mr. Peter Clarke as the Children's Commissioner. One reason for tabling the amendments, and for wanting to get the Bill out of Committee on the date that has been suggested, is so that he can start work knowing exactly what his brief is. This Committee is minded to keep to the 1 February finish date. Hon. Members may table amendments that will require in-depth discussion, and the Opposition will table further amendments, including amendments to schedules, which tie in with those already tabled.
It is the Committee's function to scrutinise and seek to improve the Bill. We want to take on board some of the comments made by voluntary bodies in Wales on the Children's Commissioner and by the National Assembly for Wales. The National Assembly thought it desirable that the Commissioner's remit should cover non-devolved matters, recognising that such a proposal would be subject to negotiation with the Government. We quoted on Second Reading comments from a number of voluntary bodies, including the Children in Wales Commissioner Campaign Group, which, in one of its reports, stated:
many looked after children ordinarily resident in Wales live in foster homes or residential children's accommodation in England. Young offenders are also in penal institutions on the other side of the border. There is currently no children's hospital in Wales, and children frequently travel to Liverpool or Bristol for specialist treatment...The Commissioner cannot, it would seem, review issues of children's rights affected by the environment, the media or the family, by private bodies or voluntary or religious bodies unless they are providing a relevant service.
It went to point out:
the Commissioner cannot review or monitor or comment on proposed primary legislation—i.e. Bills before Parliament at Westminster.
That particular group believes that the Bill should be amended so that
the Children's Commissioner for Wales has a right to comment on non-devolved matters and cross-border services and a right to comment on primary and potential primary legislation as it affects children in Wales.
On Second Reading, in an intervention on the hon. Member for Cardiff, North, I referred to paragraph 29 of the excellent report of the Health and Social Services Committee of the National Assembly on the Children's Commissioner for Wales, which states:
We have given consideration as to whether the Commissioner's remit should include policy and services that affect children in Wales but for which responsibility has not been devolved to the Assembly, such as the benefit system. We believe that such jurisdiction would be desirable to promote the rights and welfare of children in Wales. The widest possible functions in respect of non-devolved policies and services should be explored and, as a minimum, the Commissioner should be able to consider and make representations in respect of any non-devolved matters affecting children in Wales in a way similar to the Assembly's right under section 33 of the Government of Wales Act, which it can exercise in respect of non-devolved functions. However—
I drew attention to this important point on Second Reading—
we recognise that such a proposal would be subject to negotiation with the UK Government.
Fortunately for the Committee, representatives of the UK Government are sitting in this Committee, and therefore will be able to comment in a moment.
Paragraph 30 states:
We have also given consideration as to whether the Commissioner should have jurisdiction over services provided in England for children normally resident in Wales—`cross-border provision'. Again, we believe that such jurisdiction would be desirable to promote the rights and welfare of children normally resident in Wales, especially in the context of commenting on why the services may not be available here. Therefore we also recommend that the widest possible functions should be explored in respect of cross-border provision, with at least a power similar to the Assembly's under section 33 of the Government of Wales Act but, as with non-devolved issues, recognise that this matter would be subject to negotiation with the UK Government.