New Clause 1 - Commissioner's annual report

Part of Children's Commissioner for Wales Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 12:30 pm on 30 January 2001.

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Photo of David Hanson David Hanson The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales 12:30, 30 January 2001

It is good to see that everyone is ganging up against the Conservatives; that is always a good sign in Committee.

Paragraph 8 of schedule 2 to the Care Standards Act 2000 already provides for regulations relating to reports from the commissioner. The Assembly may shortly require the commissioner to make an annual report to the Assembly; if it made such a request, that would reflect the recommendations of its own report on the roles of the commissioner.

I agree with my hon. Friends the Members for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy and for Cardiff, North, and the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire, that placing in the Bill a further detailed requirement for annual reports to Parliament would conflict with the Government's approach of giving maximum discretion to the Assembly, which is entirely consistent with the devolution settlement. As the hon. Member for Ribble Valley said in debate on his amendment, asking for breakdowns of the commissioner's total expenditure and making recommendations could be perceived as another attempt to reinvade Wales on the part of the Government.

Given the consistency of the devolution settlement, it would not be consistent for a report to be laid formally before Parliament, for the reasons that hon. Members have mentioned. By virtue of section 45 of the Government of Wales Act 1998, reports or statements relating

``exclusively to matters with respect to which functions are exercised by the Assembly'' are laid before and published by the Assembly. The commissioner's financial package and report are the responsibility of the Assembly.

In the spirit of co-operation, however, which I have tried to ensure during our proceedings, I should be happy to bring to the Assembly's attention the suggestion that hon. Members might want to be included when matters are presented by the commissioner, and that reports could be made available to Parliament. It is usually the practice of other Assembly-sponsored bodies to make reports available through the Library. The Assembly might also want to consider the suggestion made by the hon. Member for Ribble Valley that the 40 Welsh Members might want to receive reports. Indeed, the Assembly might even send them to Conservative Members as well, none of whom represent Welsh constituencies.