The Western Mail has an example of the sort of language that led both the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and the Assembly’s own Legislation Committee to call time on the drafting of the Environment Legislative Competence Order.
The aim of the LCO is to give the Assembly powers to tackle litter and pollution and boost recycling rates but MPs and AMs have been baffled at the complexity of the document, particularly the long list of policy areas explicitly left out of the transfer of powers. There are even exemptions from the exemptions, known by civil servants as “carve-outs”:
In their report, the MPs said: “We believe there is a danger that excessive use of these practices could risk making the Government of Wales Act unwieldy and impenetrable.
“Furthermore, we suggest that the explanatory memorandum accompanying the proposed LCO fails to fully convey the precise implications of the proposed Order in terms that are understandable by all.”
The MPs concede that Government lawyers tend to insist on swathes of detail in a bid to avoid misinterpretation, but complain that “almost every explanatory memorandum [is] as opaque and impenetrable as the legislation itself”.
They add: “This cannot be helpful, especially at a time when the National Assembly for Wales is trying to promote an understanding of its processes.”
Today’s competition then is to render the following passage into plain English:
“The table has effect so that the matters specified in the first column (‘excepted matters’) are not included in the matters in the fields identified in the second column.
“The Assembly will not be able make provision in an Assembly Measure under section 94(4) of the 2006 Act about anything in the first column, even if it would otherwise relate to the matters in the fields specified in the second column.
“The excepted matters in the first column will be outside the scope of the matters specified in the corresponding entry in the second column.”
Answers in the comments please.
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