SD Alliance
|
SHAPING OUR FUTURE | LLUNIO EIN DYFODOL
|
Thank you for the opportunity to
input views from the SD alliance on the draft Order to amend
section 79, GOW Act. Due to the shortness of the response time, we
have not had time to fully consult and agree these points with the
full membership of the Alliance. These views represent the views of
members who were able to respond within this time frame.
COMMENTS ON THE ORDER
- Section 79 can be seen as a vestige
of very limited and largely executive devolution in Wales, where
defining the powers and duties of the Welsh executive (whether it
be the Assembly in GOWA 1998 or the Welsh Ministers under GOWA 2006
pre-2011 referendum) was considered to be the proper job of the UK
Parliament, and not that of the National
Assembly.
- With the continuation of the
devolution process, we are now considering the draft of an Order in
Council to amend GOWA 2006, so as to bring section 79 of GOWA
within the Assembly’s competence.
- Section 79 of GOWA contains the
sustainable development duty which applies to Welsh Ministers, i.e.
to have a Sustainable Development Scheme (but no duty to implement
it). This is a historically significant duty, appreciated
widely as a cornerstone of Wales duty on Sustainable
Development.
- The Wellbeing of Future Generations
Bill creates a more complex set of obligations and processes which
apply to Welsh Ministers and also to public bodies and which give
rise to the more extensive duties.
- How section 79 sits alongside the
Bill has been an open question. The Bill does not contain any
reference to section 79 GOWA.
- The Explanatory Memorandum that
came with the draft Order in Council (para 19) says that “the
amendment to section 79 of the 2006 Act will ensure alignment
and consistency between the two pieces of legislation and provide
clarity in the statute book.”
- So it is clear that there is an
intention to align the two pieces of legislation, but unfortunately
it is not clear how this is to be done. There is no
draft amendment or amendments to section 79 (which it is stated
will be tabled to the WFG Bill) on which we or the committee can
comment.
- This is a very wide enabling power.
The instrument as drafted gives carte blanche to the Ministers and
could result in a much weaker form of words than exists
currently.
- It does not contain any
constraints on the changes which could be made. It does not
for instance provide that the section 79 duty can only be
strengthened and not diluted. So in future the Assembly or
Welsh Ministers could (if this Order were made) repeal section 79
entirely.
- From one perspective, Section 79
can be seen as a “safety net” – it is the minimum
that Welsh Ministers must do in relation to Sustainable Development
(SD), and therefore it may be appropriate to ensure that they
cannot promote legislation in the Assembly to remove or weaken that
safety net.
- It would not be appropriate to pass
such an open ended order without seeing draft amendments which the
Minister intends to table.
- A
potential outcome of amending section 79 is that the provisions of
the FG Bill replace the duty to have an SD scheme. Therefore, the
existing SD scheme, One Wales One Planet (OWOP), would cease to
function.
- OWOP has gained widespread and
cross party support for its ground breaking approach to SD,
reflecting ten years experience of developing SD
schemes.
- Specifically we are concerned to
ensure the following key elements of OWOP are not lost as a result
of this Order.
1)
The comprehensive
definition of sustainable development, which incorporates the key
concepts of ‘living within environmental limits, using a fair
share of the Earth’s resources’ and is set in a
specifically Welsh context.
2)
The comprehensive
explanation of internationally recognised SD principles
3)
The clear structure of
long term visions (goals), key outcomes and measurable and
time-bound aims, such as ‘reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by 3% a year by 2011….’
4)
Independent review of
the effectiveness of the Scheme.
Recommendations
We
consider that a number of issues in the Order and Explanatory
Memorandum should be clarified in order to ensure that the current
protections afforded by section 79, GOWA are not weakened or put at
risk.
- Request the Minister lays draft
amendments before the committee, prior to the committee passing the
Order.
- The Order should provide that the
section 79 duty can only be strengthened and not
diluted.
- Due to the high constitutional
significance of this clause, we recommend that the Committee seek
to ensure that, in future, section 79 should only be amended
by primary legislation, with the full scrutiny of the
Assembly.
- The key elements of OWOP, outlined
in paragraph 14, should be incorporated into the FG
Bill.
- The Bill must be absolutely clear
that in respect of Welsh Government, the objectives and annual
reports (clauses 9 and 13) replace the provisions of section 79
GOWA, in regard to the SD Scheme and the Programme for
Government.
- If it is the intention that the
Future Generations report replaces the independent effectiveness
review, then the powers and the duties of the Commissioner should
be reviewed to ensure this is achieved.
12.11.14
For further information, please
contact either of the authors of this response.
Anne Meikle, WWF
Cymru. ameikle@wwf.org.uk.
02920 454970
Haf Elgar, FOE Cymru.
haf.elgar@foe.co.uk02920
229634