Joint Activities with the National Assembly for Wales Third Report of Session 2003-04 Report,Together with Appendix and Formal Minutes : House of Commons Papers 2003-04 582

The Welsh Affairs Committee has recommended that the House should grant powers for select committees to hold joint formal meetings with committees of the National Assembly for Wales and for the Welsh Grand Committee to hold joint debates with members of the National Assembly. A draft bill will propose that pre-legislative scrutiny of draft bills relating to Wales should be carried out jointly with the relevant National Assembly Committee. This report includes the report of a joint working group of officials of the House of Commons and the National Assembly, on these WAC proposals. "Reciprocal enlargement" is proposed; in other words, Assembly Members would be invited to take part in House of Commons proceedings and vice versa, Such meetings would be regarded as meetings of the host body, chaired by one of its members and governed by its rules. The House's rules about the use of the Welsh language should be relaxed for joint meetings, so that all participants could use English or Welsh at will, with interpretation provided. A pilot experiment should begin as soon as possible in the House of Commons.