WIREDGOV

The Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, yesterday (Wednesday, 15 November) hailed the Queen's Speech as the beginning of a new chapter of devolution following the passage of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

He said: "The past session of Parliament heralded massive new powers for Wales with the passage of the Government of Wales Act.

"The Government is committed to giving much broader powers to the Assembly in Wales - and the process has already begun with framework powers for the Assembly now on the statute book in the Education & Inspection Act and the NHS Redress Act.

"This Parliamentary session will see further law-making powers being delivered for Wales. In particular, the Local Government Bill and Further Education and Training Bill contain extensive and significant framework powers for the Assembly. And once a new Welsh Assembly Government has been formed, Parliament will start considering requests from the Assembly for Orders in Council granting law-making powers to Wales over specific matters.

"Vital work being is also being done to prepare the ground for Wales after the Assembly elections in May 2007. The Wales Office has a large amount of secondary legislation to undertake this session, in the wake of the Government of Wales Act 2006, with up to 12 Orders to make to ensure full implementation of the Act."

Mr Hain went on to emphasise the importance of the Government's new legislative programme as a whole.

"This Queen's Speech sees the Government focussing on security, institutional and public service reform and wider global issues which we cannot ignore.

"Following the Stern Review into climate change, the Government will provide a clear and credible long-term framework for the UK to achieve its long-term aims of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In particular, we will strengthen the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, which is predicted to deliver carbon savings of 1m tonnes per annum by 2010. Wales is already at the forefront of providing renewable energy through on- and off-shore wind power, and has the potential to be at the cutting edge of research and development for green technologies.

"On public service reform, the Government will seek to reform the State Pension system, bringing considerable benefits to nearly 589,000 people in Wales. In our White Paper published in May this year we set out our aim of creating an affordable and sustainable pension system which meets the needs of generations to come. The proposals in the Bill will make the system more generous and widely available and will tackle the inequalities currently faced by women and carers. This means that by 2010, 70 per cent of women reaching State Pension Age would have a full basic state pension compared to only 30 per cent today. The Child Support Agency will be reformed so that parents will be able to choose to make their own financial arrangements. The Further Education and Training Bill will give the Assembly more powers of intervention to address poor provision within the further education system. And the Local Government Bill will offer a new look for local government - more confident, pro-active, innovative and in tune with their communities. The framework powers included in the Bill will enable the Welsh Assembly Government to develop their own ‘made in Wales' policies and further devolve power to local government if needed.

"On security, the Government is bringing in measures to help prevent serious crime by improving data sharing. We will further reform the immigration system, strengthening borders whilst being firm and fair, in order to meet the very real public concern on this vital issue. In addition, the Government will focus on delivering the services needed to stop offenders committing further law-breaking, raising standards and encouraging all organisations involved in the fight against crime to work together more closely.

"On institutional reform, the Government will rebalance the criminal justice system in favour of the victim and the law-abiding majority. Customer protection will be increased by strengthening and streamlining consumer advocacy and complaint handling. The trials process will be reformed to redress the imbalance which exists in the treatment of white and blue collar crime. A new Legal Services Board will be created to ensure independent regulation of the legal services to ensure that people get value for money, bringing considerable benefit to the thousands of people in Wales who purchase legal services. Long overdue reforms to the civil courts and tribunals systems will also take place, to give a better service to over 500,000 people across England and Wales. Parliament will be given an opportunity to reassess and reassert the legal framework for ethically controversial treatment and research. Finally, the Office for National Statistics will be made independent of Government - reinforcing the integrity and quality of public statistics.

"This upcoming session will be a busy one behind the scenes as we prepare for the new era of devolution that the Government of Wales Act will bring. The Government will continue to work with the Assembly and build on the progress already made towards a world-class Wales."