Clause 4 - Inquiries initiated by Commissioner
Children Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mr Don Touhig (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales), Department for Constitutional Affairs; Islwyn, Labour/Co-operative)
I am pleased to speak for the first time in this Standing Committee, Mr. Benton, under your chairmanship, and I look forward to the guidance and assistance that you will give us as we go through these amendments and new clauses. If you will permit, I shall speak to the Government amendments first, and shall leave the other amendments until later so that other colleagues will have something to say.
Taken together, the Government amendments and new clauses have the effect of clearly presenting the scope of the children's commissioners functions in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and logically assembling in one place various provisions concerning those countries that are, at present, situated in different clauses of part 1. The effect of the amendments is clearly to make this role one of an English commissioner-plus, who does not undermine the existing role of the other commissioners and can work with them. For example, a memorandum of understanding could be used to minimise possible confusion for children in the other countries about whom they should address themselves to.
The key amendments are Government new clauses 27, 28 and 29, which create new clauses describing the children's commissioner's functions in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The remainder of the amendments are consequential and remove references to the other countries in other clauses of part 1. Amendment No. 11 restricts the scope of clause 4 to England and amendments Nos. 187 and 13 are consequential to that. Amendments Nos. 17 and 182 perform the same functions for clause 5. It was not necessary to table a similar amendment to clause 2 because its scope is already restricted to England, following its amendment in another place.
Amendment No. 51 removes the existing clause 6, which will become unnecessary as its provisions will be included in the proposed new clauses. The changes that we propose maintain the current position: the commissioners in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are wholly responsible for matters that are devolved in their respective countries. They are not being downgraded to regional or deputy commissioners reporting to an overseeing United Kingdom Children's Commissioner. That was never the Government's intention. However, we acknowledge that there was some disquiet in another place, arising from an earlier draft of the Bill, which described the Children's Commissioner as having the function of promoting the views and interest of children in the United Kingdom.