Baroness Coffey (Con)

The Welsh Senedd’s legislative consent Motion was not about whether it could accept or reject the Bill. People perceived a threat, although I appreciate that this is not what Kim Leadbeater or the noble and learned Lord will have suggested. This perceived threat, explicitly put in a letter by the sponsors of the Bill, was that if the Welsh Senedd rejected the legislative consent Motion, various clauses—particularly Clause 42—would be removed from the Bill, which would effectively remove any involvement of the Welsh Senedd in how the Bill would be put into effect in Wales. Even then, the Welsh Health Minister voted against that, as did the First Minister of Wales, and they continued to say they felt the Bill was unsafe. I do not want to get into a rehearsal or a repeat of what happened in the Welsh Senedd—but it did vote. Interestingly, the Government have to deal with another issue where the Welsh Senedd voted down a legislative consent Motion on the Crime and Policing Bill, but that is not a debate for today. Here we are into an important part of the Bill, where the UK Government can override any decisions made by the Welsh Government and the Welsh Senedd. That is particularly singled out in aspects of Clause 42. I have co-signed Amendment 764 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, which seeks to address that by removing certain powers in that regard so that the UK Government cannot determine what happens in Wales. Since the introduction of the Bill a very long time ago, this has evolved into basically a health matter. It is certainly how the Bill’s promoters have tried to shift this. That is why I feel so strongly about it, as I set out on our first day in Committee. I will turn briefly to some of the amendments we are debating today. Amendment 736 would amend Clause 40, which suggests that guidance “may relate to matters” for Welsh Ministers. Coming from a UK Minister, that is not right. The Welsh Government, working with the Welsh Senedd, should determine that. The noble Baroness, Lady Smith, has tabled Amendment 844 to effectively shift this to become a decision entirely for the Welsh Senedd. There is certainly merit in considering that, and I am sure she will set that out later. Even further, I strongly support her Amendments 903 and 905, which have been signed by others.