Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister for his reply. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, for his support on this issue of appointment and reappointment. It seems a little odd to us that we dealt with the appointment and reappointment of the Children’s Commissioner quite satisfactorily, as far as we know, but, when it comes to this commissioner for the elderly, a different regime is to apply. While we understand that he is an appointee of the Assembly, and therefore it is arguable that they should control his appointment and re-appointment, all this nevertheless takes time. It will be quite a complex process, and I am sure there will be further arguments within the Assembly as to the appropriate length of time. Whether the length of time is in fact a suitable subject for consultation, and one on which you accept the result of consultation, is a moot point. All kinds of factors will feature in the appointment and reappointment. Nevertheless, this way of dealing with the appointment and reappointment of a commissioner in primary legislation, as opposed to how dealt with the Children’s Commissioner, is a harbinger of things to come, because this way of dealing with it was anticipated in the Government’s White Paper Better Governance for WalesI. The Government’s intention is clearly to give more extensive powers of that kind to the Assembly. I am not sure that the Houses of Parliament will be content with that, given all the Henry VIII clauses that it involves. Henry VIII clauses are not popular with legislators in this Parliament, and rightly so. Nevertheless, this is a major issue that will be heavily discussed in the not-too-distant future when we see the pattern of further devolution legislation. I am grateful to the Minister for his explanation on the gratuities issue and I am sorry that his promise to me at Second Reading appeared to be a transgression in the eyes of others; to me, he has never transgressed and is always the perfect Minister with whom we are accustomed to dealing. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 not moved.]