| Introduction |
| 1. The following submission is made in my
capacity as the Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Development
Committee. The submission describes the Committee’s
mode of operation and gives specific examples of Committee
business that have been affected by the clarity, breadth
and depth of the Assembly’s powers. In addition,
it describes the Committee’s role in scrutinising
the Minister, his policies and Assembly subordinate legislation. |
| Background |
| 2. The portfolio of the Agriculture &
Rural Development Committee covers the matters related
to agriculture, fisheries, food, forestry and rural development
for which the Deputy First Minister and Minister for Rural
Development and Wales Abroad is accountable. |
| 3. The responsibilities of subject committees
are set out in the Assembly’s Standing Orders (see
Annex 1). In the main these envisage a committee role
in scrutiny, policy development and the production of
subordinate legislation. During a typical meeting the
Committee is likely to address more than one of these
functions in some way. To do so, the Committee’s
mode of operation has developed over time and business
under the following four broad headings would now be recognisable
in most meetings: |
- Minister’s Report – at each fortnightly
meeting of the Committee, Members question the Minister
on the basis of a written report covering the main
topical issues within his portfolio1.
- Subordinate legislation – at most meetings,
the Committee considers an item of draft subordinate
legislation2.
- Input into the development of Welsh Assembly
Government policy – at the request of the
Minister or Committee members, papers are submitted
to the Committee seeking views and input into emerging
Welsh Assembly Government policy.
- Committee-led inquiries – meetings often
include time for the questioning of organisations
and individuals submitting evidence to specific Committee
inquiries. The process leads to the production of
Committee reports containing policy recommendations
to the Minister and others3.
|
| 4. The balance between the Committee’s
different functions has altered since it began its work
in 1999. Explicit Ministerial and legislative scrutiny
now takes up a greater proportion of the Committee’s
time. |
| Committee work and the Assembly’s
powers |
| 5. The following section gives examples where
the clarity, depth or breadth of the Assembly’s powers
have affected the work of the Committee. |
| Foot and mouth disease |
| 6. In the spring and summer of 2001, the work
of the Committee was dominated by the foot and mouth outbreak.
Additional meetings were held and the development of the
outbreak became the principal focus of Committee agendas. |
| 7. The relevant animal disease control powers
did not lie with the Assembly, which acted throughout
as an agent for DEFRA. The Committee, therefore, was only
able to influence policy by making its views known to
the Assembly Minister and officials and asking that these
be passed on to DEFRA. This constraint on its ability
to influence policy directly was frustrating for Committee
members. Nonetheless, the Assembly Minister was frequently
seen by the public as being accountable for many of the
decisions being made and the Committee’s meetings
acted as a useful and timely focus for public discussion
of the handling of the outbreak. |
| 8. When the disease had been brought under
control the Committee resolved to conduct a detailed scrutiny
of the actions taken by Assembly Ministers and officials
during the outbreak. Two meetings of the Committee were
devoted to this exercise and, as well as scrutinising
the actions of the Minister for Rural Affairs, the Committee
also invited other Cabinet Ministers with relevant functions
to give evidence. As a result, the Committee was able
to report on the disease control, environmental and economic
aspects of the outbreak in Wales far more quickly than
any equivalent body or inquiry in England. |
| 9. The Committee published a report of its
investigation in April 2002. It recommended the devolution
of animal health powers and addressed other issues outside
the remit of the National Assembly, such as vaccination
and import controls. The report also made recommendations
on matters within the Assembly’s control, such as
its communication strategy and the economic assistance
provided to help the rural economy recover. |
| Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) in rural Wales |
| 10. In 2001/02, the Committee instigated an
inquiry into the development of ICT in rural Wales4.
In the main, the Committee recognised that its contribution
would be maximised by focusing on areas over which the
Assembly had direct control. For this reason, the bulk
of its recommendations addressed the steps that the National
Assembly and partners in Wales could take to stimulate
demand for ICT services in rural areas. This approach
complemented a related inquiry being undertaken by the
House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee into the
development of the supply of ICT services. Nonetheless,
the Committee’s report still included some recommendations
that were outside the control of the Assembly. For example,
it recommended Welsh representation on OFCOM, the new
industry regulatory body, and called on OFCOM to address
the particular needs of rural areas in Wales. |
| Hunting with dogs |
| 11. In June 2000, a plenary session of the
National Assembly called upon the Welsh Assembly Government
‘to request Her Majesty’s Government at Westminster
to allow the National Assembly for Wales to decide on
the question of hunting with dogs in Wales by framing
any Bill to provide for secondary legislative purposes
to this end’5. |
| 12. The Committee was required to involve
itself in the matter when, following plenary consideration
of the 2000-01 Queen’s speech, the Hunting Bill was
referred to the Committee for consideration of its bearing
on Wales6.
Following a public consultation exercise, the Committee
produced a factual report describing the nature of hunting
in Wales and highlighting features of particular significance
to Wales. The report was drawn to the attention of Alun
Michael, the DEFRA Minister now responsible for introducing
primary legislation on the matter. |
| The Committee’s approach to scrutiny |
| 13. It seems reasonable to expect that a change
in the legislative powers of the Assembly would alter
the nature of the work of subject committees: in particular,
their approach to Ministerial scrutiny and the consideration
of legislation. It may be useful, therefore, to give some
examples of how the Committee has fulfilled these requirements
to date. |
| Regular Ministerial scrutiny |
| 14. At each fortnightly meeting, the Minister
submits a written report covering the main topical issues
within his portfolio. The Minister is free to decide which
matters he includes in his Report but Committee members
can, and do, require that particular topics are covered.
Members are then free to question the Minister on any
item included in the Report. Typically, around an hour
of each meeting is devoted to broad and topical Ministerial
scrutiny in this way. |
| 15. A related issue of relevance to the Committee
relates to the match between its portfolio and that of
the Minister. At present the remit of Committees reflects
the distinction in the Government of Wales Act between
‘accountability’ and ‘responsibility’.
In principle, the ability of a Committee to scrutinise
the actions of its Minister is therefore limited to those
functions for which the Minister is accountable7.
To date, though, the Minister has been happy to take questions
from the Agriculture & Rural Development Committee
on the full range of his rural responsibilities. |
| Detailed scrutiny of specific issues |
| 16. More detailed scrutiny than is possible
during the Minister’s Report was conducted following
the foot and mouth outbreak (described in paragraphs 8
and 9). In preparation for that exercise, the Committee
invited those affected by the outbreak to submit written
evidence on the particular problems they had faced and
to identify the questions they wished to see posed to
Assembly Ministers. The material submitted and the briefing
prepared by the Committee’s secretariat was shared
with all Committee members, including the Minister, in
preparation for the scrutiny sessions. |
| 17. An additional point flowing from this
exercise relates to the Committee’s power of summons.
Unlike Westminster Select Committees, Assembly Committees
have very limited powers of summons. The fact that the
co-operation and attendance of Ministers and officials
from other Government Departments could not be guaranteed
was a factor taken into account in the Committee’s
decision to restrict its scrutiny to the actions of the
Assembly’s own Ministers and officials. |
| Follow-up scrutiny of the implementation
of Committee recommendations |
| 18. In June 2001, the Committee published
a report on the diversification of the rural economy.
A year later, the Committee considered the Welsh Assembly
Government’s response to each of the report’s
recommendations. Although a member of the Committee throughout
the inquiry, the Minister was hence scrutinised on the
implementation of the Committee’s recommendations. |
| Subordinate legislation |
| 19. Around a third of the subordinate legislation
made by the Assembly falls within the Agriculture and
Rural Development portfolio. Since the spring of this
year, the Committee has attempted to take a more structured
approach to the scrutiny of this legislation by including
a regular item on most Committee agendas for the consideration
of individual draft statutory instruments (SIs). |
| 20. The process by which these are identified
and considered is as follows: |
- every 4-6 weeks the Minister provides a report to
the Committee listing all of the forthcoming SIs within
his portfolio. The Committee has asked that this includes
a brief description of each SI and an indication of
the degree to which there is scope to make distinctive
Welsh policy;
- the Committee selects from this list those SIs it
wishes to consider in detail;
- the draft text of the chosen SI is circulated to
Members as far in advance of the Committee’s
meeting as possible;
- if Members wish to suggest any amendments, they
are asked to submit these in advance of the Committee’s
meeting.
|
| 21. The Committee has sought to apply this
protocol to the consideration of around a dozen SIs in
recent months. In the case of one8,
suggested amendments were passed in Committee but were
not adopted when the SI was put for final approval to
plenary. |
| 22. The Committee’s experience of scrutinising
SIs in this way is still limited but a number of points
of interest have already become clear: |
- the Committee relies on the written description
of the purpose of each SI, provided by Welsh Assembly
Government officials, to help identify the SIs of
most interest or significance;
- the formal procedures for the scrutiny of SIs set
out in the Assembly’s Standing Orders are rarely
used. In the main this reflects the time pressure
under which most SIs are produced and the fact that
the potential 8 week delay envisaged for Committee
scrutiny by the Standing Orders is rarely feasible
if legislation is to be implemented in line with other
parts of the UK or EU requirements;
- to circumvent this problem, the Committee has adopted
the process described here so as to permit some legislative
scrutiny whilst still allowing the timely production
of each SI;
- the resources available to assist Members in this
process are limited. A single lawyer is currently
available to provide legal advice to all Committees.
In addition, Members have access to Committee research
and secretariat services9.
|
| Conclusion |
| 23. I hope that this submission is helpful
to the Commission and I look forward to discussing it
with you more fully on 5 December. |
| Annex 1 |
| Subject Committee responsibilities. |
| Standing Order 9.7 and 9.8 |
| Each subject committee shall |
| (i) contribute to the development of the Assembly’s
policies within the fields for which the relevant Minister
is accountable to the Assembly; |
| (ii) keep under review the expenditure and
administration connected with their implementation; and
|
| (iii) keep under review the discharge of public
functions in those fields by public, voluntary and private
bodies. |
| Each subject committee shall also, within
the relevant fields, |
| (i) advise on proposed primary, secondary
and European legislation affecting Wales, including performing
its functions under standing order 22; |
| (ii) provide advice to the Assembly Cabinet
on matters relating to the allocation of the Assembly’s
budget in accordance with standing order 19; |
| (iii) perform its functions under standing
order 21 (complaints); |
| (iv) perform any functions assigned to it
under the Code of Practice on Public Appointments Procedure
made by the Assembly under standing order 20; and |
| (v) consider matters referred to it by the
Assembly within its fields. |
1see
paragraphs 14&15
2see paragraphs 19-22
3see paragraph 10
4 other inquiries conducted by
the Committee have considered the lifting of the ban on
the sale of beef on the bone, diversification of the rural
economy and the future of organic farming.
5 Record of Proceedings 27 June
2000
6 Record of Proceedings 19 December
2000
7 in the case of the Minister
for Rural Development and Wales Abroad to the functions
listed in Annex 1 of his written submission to the Commission
8 Welfare of Farmed Animals (Wales) Amendment Regulations
2002
9 a significant expansion of the research
service available to Members and Committees was recommended
by the Assembly Review of Procedure Group. Recruitment
to this expanded service is currently taking place. |
|
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