Commissioner for Older People (Wales) Bill [HL]

In moving Amendment No. 12, I shall first speak to government Amendments Nos. 107 and 62, followed by Amendment No. 12, and then Amendments Nos. 113, 116, 117 and 118. These amendments are required as a result of the Government’s policy, and the earlier amendments we brought, on joint working, collaborative working and information sharing. They provide reciprocal powers for other commissioners and ombudsmen, where appropriate. Government Amendment No. 107 simply gives effect to the new Schedule 4 that details the consequential amendments arising from this Bill. The content of new Schedule 4 is provided by government Amendment No. 62, which lists those consequential amendments to be made to the Care Standards Act 2000 and the Public Services Ombudsman (Wales) Act 2005. The first consequential amendment made to Section 25 of the PSOW Act 2005 mirrors that of government Amendment No. 100, working jointly with the PSOW. That gives the PSOW reciprocal powers to work jointly with the commissioner. The amendment will ensure that if the PSOW identifies a case that could be the subject of an examination by the commissioner, he or she will be required, where he or she considers it appropriate, to inform and consult the commissioner about the matter. He will also be enabled to co-operate with the commissioner about the case, to undertake a joint investigation and to produce a joint report with the commissioner. Further consequential amendments are made to Section 25 of the PSOW Act as well as Section 75 of the Care Standards Act 2000 that mirror government Amendment No. 101, working collaboratively with other ombudsmen. They give the PSOW and the Children’s commissioner for Wales reciprocal powers to work collaboratively with the commissioner. This will ensure that if the PSOW or the Children’s Commissioner for Wales is considering a case which raises a matter which could be the subject of examination by the commissioner, they will be required, where they consider it appropriate, to notify the commissioner of the connected matter. If they consider that the case also raises a matter that they   could investigate, they will be required, where they consider it appropriate, to inform and consult the commissioner about their proposals to investigate. Where both the commissioner and the PSOW or the CCW consider that they are entitled to investigate, they may co-operate with each other in their respective investigations. They will also be able to act together in the investigation of the matters raised by the case and prepare and publish a joint report containing their respective conclusions. Amendment No. 12 is required to reflect the policy that the Information Commissioner, as a permitted person in government Amendment No. 102, should be able to share information with the commissioner, just as the commissioner is enabled to disclose information to the Information Commissioner. The effect of the amendment is to insert the Commissioner for Older People for Wales into the relevant table within the Freedom of Information Act 2000 so that he is listed as a person to whom the Information Commissioner can disclose information. Amendment No. 116 gives the Assembly a limited power to make consequential amendments to other legislation in the future, by order. However, any consequential amendment to the legislation of another person must be for the purposes of adding or removing that person from the list of persons with whom the commissioner may work jointly or collaboratively. The amendment also places the Assembly under a duty to obtain the prior consent of the appropriate Secretary of State or Northern Ireland department where the legislation that it wishes to amend relates to a matter which is wholly or partly the responsibility of a UK Government department or a Northern Ireland department respectively. We think this is a reasonable, thorough and fair approach to take. The amendment, however, does not extend to Scottish legislation which, under the Interpretation Act, is not included within the term ““enactment””. Therefore, the Assembly is not enabled to make any consequential amendments to Scottish legislation and this is, we consider, an appropriate reflection of the existing constitutional framework. Amendment No. 113 inserts a definition for the term ““enactment”” in the Bill. It defines ““enactment”” in such a way as to include any Acts that are passed in the same session as the Bill, or in the future. I turn next to Amendment No. 118, which is required as a result of government Amendment No. 116. The intention of the amendment is to give full effect to the Assembly’s powers, provided in government Amendment No. 116, to make consequential amendments to Northern Ireland legislation, subject to the requirement to obtain the prior consent of a Northern Ireland department. Finally, government Amendment No. 117 is required simply to reflect the addition of another subsection, via government Amendment No. 118, in Clause 22. I beg to move.