Wales Bill

Lord Crickhowell Excerpts

Monday 7th November 2016 Lords Chamber

[Lord Crickhowell (Con)]

I propose to speak later on the water issue but the noble Lord observed that the rivers in Scotland flow straight into the sea. As a former chairman of the National Rivers Authority, I can assure him that the Solway does not flow straight into the sea; it flows from Scotland through England. We had considerable difficulties when we tried to charge the Scots for the work we did on fisheries on one side of the border, so there is not even that exception to justify the treatment. I hope we can move to simplicity and clarity in the Bill, something I have urged all along. I am grateful to noble Lords who have spoken for their clarity and brevity on this constitutional issue, in contrast to the extraordinary verbosity with which a so-called constitutional issue was addressed earlier this evening.

[Lord Elis-Thomas]

I do not think it is for me to comment on that. I am grateful to the noble Lord, who was a very distinguished Secretary of State and took many initiatives from which we benefited in Wales. He was certainly an extremely distinguished chair of the National Rivers Authority. I can never forget that. I recognise that there are exceptions in Scotland and in Wales. Perhaps one day we will legislate in this House in a way that removes this notion of a border between England and Wales. As a late medieval scholar, I always thought that everywhere within a 40-kilometre band of the so-called political border was the Marches. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Randerson (LD)]

My Lords, I support the noble Baroness’s comments. I really cannot see any shadow of logic behind the exception being given to Milford Haven. It makes no economic sense to give the Assembly the power over all the other ports but to make this the one exception. Of course, the exception hurts all the more because, by some strange coincidence, it just happens to be the largest port in Wales.

I strongly believe that Welsh devolution should not be a slavish mirror of Scottish devolution. I accept that there is a long and well-populated border between Wales and England, and it is not always the case that what is good for Scotland is good for Wales. However, I can see absolutely no reason why Milford Haven, which is about as far from the border as you could possibly get, should not be subject to the same kinds of rules to which Aberdeen is subject. It is clearly inconsistent for the Scottish Government but not the Welsh Government to be given this power, and I fear that, yet again, it is a case of Wales being treated as second class.

I also fear that we are going to come across dozens of examples—if not today then certainly in next week’s debates—of the Government simply mirroring the existing messy settlement in the long list of reservations. That will not provide the stable settlement I had hoped the Bill would achieve, and which I believe many of the Bill’s architects had originally hoped for. Therefore, I very much hope that the Government will use the opportunity between Committee and Report to think again about this issue.

[Lord Crickhowell]

My Lords, for 17 years I was the Member of Parliament for Pembroke and I had very detailed and involved discussions—and sometimes arguments—with the trust board at Milford Haven. Undoubtedly it is a strategic port. Gas imports are important, and the port’s position at the end of the oil pipeline that conveys the gas to the rest of Britain is clearly of great significance. However, from time to time I had profound disagreements with the port authorities, not least on safety matters, and I frequently urged the UK Government to interfere and take action, which on a number of occasions they were reluctant to do. The Welsh Government might be more likely to give attention to those concerns than the UK Government.

I remain completely open-minded on this issue. As I said, I understand the strategic significance but, on the face of it and on the basis of my experience, I am not entirely convinced that the job could not be done by the Government of Wales. Therefore, I will listen with considerable interest to the case made by my noble friend. I am quite prepared to be persuaded, but I think that a legitimate case is being advanced here and we need to know the exact reasons for the Government’s decision.

[Lord Wigley (PC)]

My Lords, I shall be brief. It strikes me that it is for the Government to make the case for Milford Haven being an exception. The natural position would be for it to be within the competence of the Welsh Government and Assembly, and a case for it needs to be made—a case that I have not yet heard.

I support the points about Milford Haven made by the noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Ely. As she said, it handles 62% of all the liquid natural gas, but it has had other strategic existences in the past and it may well do so in the future. At one point it had a strategic position in regard to fishing due to its deep-water facility. At the time, there was the possibility of Celtic oil off the Pembrokeshire coast. In that context, Milford Haven would have been important to the economic development of the area. Therefore, taking out what should be a focus for possible future growth in Pembrokeshire seems perverse, and a strong case needs to be made for allowing that to happen.

On coastguards, many other services in Wales come under the National Assembly—one thinks of the ambulance service, for example. One would have thought that the coastguard facility would naturally have the same sorts of conflicts. Again, I would be interested to hear the Government’s case.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

My Lords, I apologise for being blindsided on the government amendments in this group but perhaps I may turn to them first before answering the points raised by noble Lords.

Through the government amendments we will give the Welsh Ministers new powers and more flexibility to make grants or payments to encourage freight modal shift from road to water. The Welsh Ministers are already able under Section 272 of the Transport Act 2000 to make grants or other payments for carriage of freight on inland waterways where this is wholly within Wales, but neither the Secretary of State nor the Welsh Ministers are able to award a grant for a cross-border inland waterway service. This relates to the porous nature of the water, canals and so on to which I referred earlier. Two separate grants would be needed—one for the section of waterway in England and the other for the section of waterway in Wales. The amendment will enable a single grant to be made by either or both the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers for a cross-border service on inland waterways. I hope noble Lords will acknowledge that that is very sensible. This already happens for rail in the mode shift revenue support scheme, which is a scheme for rail and inland waterways.

The amendment would also give the Welsh Ministers new powers to award grants or other payments under Section 272 of the Transport Act 2000 for freight services by sea to, from or within Wales. At present only the Secretary of State is able to do so. Although the waterborne freight grant scheme is a Great Britain-wide scheme, the Welsh Ministers do not currently have the same powers as the Scottish Government to award grants under it. The amendment will put that right.

Joint and concurrent powers will offer the flexibility to make awards for cross-border freight services by inland waterway and sea. They also allow for the possibility that there could be circumstances in which the Secretary of State might wish to provide support for services to or from a reserved trust port in Wales and another port in Wales.

Government Amendments 83C, 83D and 107B transfer further powers to the Welsh Ministers to allow them to make loans to harbour authorities under the Harbours (Loans) Act 1972 and the Harbours Act 1964. They enable the Welsh Ministers to make the loans out of the Welsh Consolidated Fund and they apply requirements for the loan accounts to be certified by the Auditor-General for Wales and laid before the Welsh Assembly. The effect of the amendments is to ensure that in relation to harbours wholly in Wales, other than reserved trust ports, the Welsh Ministers can fully exercise the loan-making functions currently conferred on the Secretary of State, subject to equivalent controls.

The Bill already provides for the Welsh Ministers to make loans under Section 11 of the Harbours Act 1964 to harbour authorities for works to harbours wholly in Wales, other than reserved trust ports. The first amendment will also allow Welsh Ministers to make loans to these harbour authorities to pay off capital debts, temporary loans and overdrafts as provided for by the Harbours (Loans) Act 1972.

The second amendment inserts new provisions into Section 43 of the Harbours Act 1964 which supplement the transfer of loan-making powers under the Harbours Act 1964 and the Harbours (Loans) Act 1972. These comprise giving the Welsh Ministers the power to set the repayment terms of any loans made; enabling the issue to the Welsh Ministers of sums to make the loans from the Welsh Consolidated Fund; requiring that all loan repayments must be paid into the Welsh Consolidated Fund; and requiring the Welsh Ministers to prepare annual accounts in respect of loans issued to and repaid by harbour authorities and the Auditor-General for Wales to certify and report on the accounts of the Welsh Assembly.

The noble Baroness, Lady Morgan of Ely, has tabled a number of amendments which would remove reservations for reserved trust ports from the Bill and indicated her intention to oppose that Clause 32 stand part of the Bill, which would remove the definition of a reserved trust port. Amendments 61 to 64 seek to remove reservations for and other references to reserved trust ports from Schedule 1, which reserves legislative competence for these ports. Amendments 84 and 86 to 95 seek to remove reservations for and other references to reserved trust ports from Clauses 29, 30 and 33, dealing with the transfer of the executive functions to Welsh Ministers. Clause 32 does not contain any reservations but defines the term “reserved trust port”, and its removal from the Bill would be consequential upon the amendments The Government believe that the reservations for reserved trust ports are an essential element of the Bill and therefore cannot support the amendments of the noble Baroness.

However, in the light of the comments made—particularly by my noble friend Lord Crickhowell, who obviously is well acquainted with the trust port—but without any promises, I will have another look at this issue. The point of the noble Baroness, Lady Randerson, that we should not be slavishly mirroring Scotland, is well made. We have to look at the issues specifically on the basis of the nature of Wales. It is right that this would be the only port caught within the definition by some margin—all the other ports are much smaller. Some noble Lords have said that this is just replicating the current position but that is not true because other trust ports would be transferred under the proposals in the Bill.

It is right that this is significant in relation to LNG—I have got 63% but we will not argue about 1%—and gas. It was also at one stage suggested by the current First Minister as a base for the nuclear fleet. The Government are not considering that but it gives an indication of the important strategic role played by Milford Haven. It is a deep water port of unique significance. As I say, I will have another look at the issue but without making a promise on the conclusion.

[Lord Crickhowell]

Perhaps I may clarify something. I entirely accept and understand the strategic argument but perhaps I should explain why I slightly question the aspect of safety. To give an example, the old Esso jetty, which is a mile long, stretches right across the entrance to the port into the area where all gas tankers entering the port have to pass. It is one of the most exposed parts of the port because it is close to the mouth of Milford Haven. If an accident was to happen, for example, by a gas tanker being blown on to the end of the Esso jetty—and collisions have occurred in the past with fishing vessels hitting the jetty—and an explosion occurred, it would devastate the towns and the oil refinery on the south bank and the town of Milford Haven on the north bank. It is therefore a matter of considerable interest to the Government of Wales on grounds of safety and its possible effect on inhabitants. It is an issue that needs to be considered because there is probably a case for the Government of Wales to at least be involved in some way in considering the possible consequences on the population around the haven if an accident were to occur.

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth]

I thank my noble friend for that intervention. He is absolutely right about the need for partnership working between the Government in Wales and the Government at Westminster—as happened in the past, I think he would acknowledge, in relation to disasters that happened in the port. As I said, I have also been involved with the port of Milford Haven through the enterprise zone. It is my understanding that there is co-operation with the Welsh Government at the moment, but there is certainly consultation on certain matters on the part of the port with the Government. It is, of course, important that they are fully engaged. As I have said, I will go and look at it, but without making any promises.

Amendment 98 would require the Secretary of State to consult with Welsh Ministers while setting the strategic priorities relating to the Secretary of State’s delivery, in Wales, of functions under two pieces of primary legislation: the Coastguard Act 1925 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. These functions are all reserved matters, exercisable by the Secretary of State for Transport, and are in practice delivered in the United Kingdom by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, an executive agency of the Department for Transport.

The strategic priorities involved would cover decisions over subject areas such as the 24-hour search and rescue helicopter service provided by the coastguard, and the promotion of seafarer health and safety standards. “Strategic priorities” does not cover operational activities and incident response decisions, which remain the responsibility of the chief executive of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Such consultation would normally be effected through administrative arrangements. However, I recognise that the noble Baroness’s amendment mirrors the action taken by the Government through the Scotland Act 2016. Despite having said we will not slavishly mirror things, I will look at that and reflect on the issues raised by the noble Baroness in the amendment. In the light of that, I ask that she does not press her amendments in this group.