Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Wales; Chesham & Amersham, Conservative)

May I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Williams? I gather that it is your first time in Committee and I hope that, like your predecessor in the Chair this morning, you will have little trouble from this Committee and your chairmanship will sail by.

I rise briefly on this clause to ask the Minister what, if any, barriers lie to changing schedule 3. Obviously the Assembly may, by order, amend schedule 3, but is there any limit to the number of times that schedule 3 can be altered? Can it be altered as and when the Assembly believes that there needs to be an omission or a change of description? With what frequency is it envisaged that the power will be used?

Nick Ainger (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Secretary of State for Wales; Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire, Labour)

Clause 7 allows the Assembly to add to, delete from, or alter the description of persons listed in schedule 3. A person can be a body or individual. It sets out the conditions that must be met before a person can be added to the schedule, namely that the person must provide a service in Wales in an area in which the Assembly has functions. The hon. Lady asked me whether there was any limit to the number of times or circumstances in which this can be used. The answer is no. It just depends on whether a body or an individual qualifies under the criteria set. They must broadly be a public sector body with at least half of their expenditure on the discharge of functions in Wales being met directly from payments made by the Assembly.

I can envisage in the future new functions being given to the Assembly, or to a new or amalgamated body. In such circumstances the power to amend schedule 3, under clause 7, would be used. There is no limit, but those are the conditions that would have to be met in order for clause 7 to be used. I hope that the hon. Lady accepts that argument.