Tomorrow, the Welsh Grand Committee will debate the proposed Welsh Language legislative competence order (LCO).
The LCO has attracted a considerable amount of attention in Wales and was the subject of a report by the Welsh select committee shortly before the Parliamentary recess. The committee expressed a number of concerns about the original draft order and made several recommendations as to how it could be improved.
Last week, Peter Hain, the Secretary of State, issued his response to the select committee’s report, in which he accepted many of its recommendations. The order, he said, would be amended to reflect that.
So far, so good; and, as regular readers will know, I am a strong supporter of the Grand Committee, so I am pleased that it will now have the opportunity of debating the LCO.
There is, however, one significant problem: the amended draft order has not yet been published. This means that the Grand Committee will, ludicrously enough, be debating a document that none of its members – not even the Secretary of State – has yet seen.
I know that Peter is anxious to show he is cracking on with the LCO, but this, frankly, is ridiculous. It shows no respect for Parliament or the people of Wales and makes a mockery of the legislative process.
If the Grand Committee’s debate is to mean anything, it should be postponed until the new draft LCO has been published.
