New Committee established to look at Assembly Legislation

The National Assembly’s first permanent legislation committee, known as Legislation Committee No.1, met for the first time on 8 December 2008. The Committee, chaired by the Deputy Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, will primarily deal with Member and committee proposed legislation (Legislative Competence Orders and Measures

The Committee’s initial task is to consider and report on the general principles of the proposed Playing Fields (Community Involvement in Disposal Decisions) (Wales) Measure 2008 (‘the proposed Measure’). The proposed Measure was introduced by Dai Lloyd AM (Member in charge) following his success in a ballot, which gives an individual Assembly Member to introduce his or her own legislative proposal.

The purpose of the proposed Measure is to strengthen arrangements relating to the disposal of playing fields by local authorities. It places a duty on local authorities to assess the impact of the proposed disposal on the local community and to consult with specified groups before deciding whether to dispose. The underlying aim of the legislation, as set out by Dai Lloyd AM, is to ensure that full consideration is given to the impact of the sale of playing fields on the health and well-being of local communities.

Rosemary Butler AM, Chair of the Committee, said “I am delighted to be chairing the first permanent legislation committee and that the Committee’s first piece of legislation under consideration is something that will be relevant to many local communities throughout Wales. However, it is not the role of this Committee to look at the merits, or otherwise, of playing field provision in Wales. It is our job to consider whether the proposed legislation, which aims to ensure that local authorities fully assess the impact on local communities of selling off playing fields, is necessary and workable. I look forward to hearing the views of interested parties, which will help inform the Committee’s work.”

The Committee would welcome views from interested parties on the following questions:

1. Is there a need for an Assembly Measure in relation to community involvement in decisions by local authorities whether to dispose of playing fields?

2.What are your views on the key provisions set out in the proposed Measure, i.e.

• the duty on local authorities to consider the impact that selling off playing fields would have on local communities before deciding whether to dispose;

• the principal definitions (Section 2);

• the duty on local authorities to prepare and consult on impact statements before deciding whether to dispose (in particular, the method and scale of consultation, and content of impact statements)(Section 3);

• the duty on local authorities to prepare a decision statement, including its content, and the arrangements for making known its decision (Section 6);

• the statutory consultees as set out in the Schedule to the proposed Measure; and

• powers of Welsh Ministers to issue stop and remedial directions to local authorities (Section 7).

3.What are the practical and financial implications of putting these provisions in place?

4.Will the proposed Measure achieve its overall purpose and aim?

Interested parties are invited to submit written evidence to the Clerk of the Committee at the address below, to arrive no later than Friday 6 February 2009. If possible, please supply an electronic version in MS Word or Rich Text format, either by e mail to LegislationOffice@wales.gsi.gov.uk or on a disk.

The National Assembly normally makes responses to public consultation available for public scrutiny and they may also be seen and discussed at Committee meetings. If you do not want your response or name published it is important that you specify this at the end of your submission.

It is normal practice for the National Assembly to publish evidence provided to a committee. Consequently your response may appear in a report or in supplementary evidence to a report. The National Assembly will not publish information which it considers to be personal data.

In the event of a request for information submitted under UK legislation, it may be necessary to disclose the information that you provide. This may include information which has previously been removed by the National Assembly for publication purposes.

If you are providing any information, other than personal data, which you feel is not suitable for public disclosure, it is up to you to stipulate which parts should not be published, and to provide a reasoned argument to support this. The National Assembly will take this into account when publishing information or responding to requests for information.

December 2008

Membership of the Committee: Rosemary Butler AM (Chair), Eleanor Burnham AM, Jeff Cuthbert AM, Ann Jones AM, Nick Ramsay AM and Janet Ryder AM.

Proposed Playing Fields (Community Involvement in Disposal Decisions) (Wales) Measure 2008

http://www.assemblywales.org/ms-ld7178-e.pdf