28.This section enables a Minister of the Crown or, in the case of Welsh or Scottish bodies, the Welsh or Scottish Ministers to make regulations amending the list of public bodies which are subject to the duty in section 1, and to limit or extend the functions of a listed body to which the duty applies. The duty can only be imposed on Welsh or Scottish bodies that carry out the same or a similar role to those carried out by a body listed in section 1.
29.It also enables the Welsh or Scottish Ministers to make other consequential amendments to section 1 which they consider are needed as a result of adding bodies to section 1. This includes adding a power for the Welsh or Scottish Ministers to issue guidance for Welsh or Scottish bodies respectively and to impose a requirement that those bodies take the relevant guidance into account. Where they issue guidance to bodies they have listed, the Welsh or Scottish Ministers can remove the requirement for those bodies to take into account guidance issued by a Minister of the Crown.
30.It also provides that a Minister of the Crown may not apply the duty to any devolved Welsh or Scottish functions.
31.This is a new provision.
A new public body is created in England to deal with regeneration. The Minister decides that it should give consideration to reducing socio-economic inequalities when making strategic decisions. The Minister makes regulations to add the body to the list in section 1.
The Welsh Ministers decide they would like the duty to apply to local authorities in Wales, starting a year after the duty starts to apply in England. They consult the relevant Minister of the Crown, and make regulations to apply the duty to those bodies from their proposed commencement date.
The Welsh Ministers then decide they would like to issue guidance to Welsh local authorities on how to fulfil the duty. They consult the relevant Minister of the Crown about this, and take into account the guidance the Minister of the Crown has issued in relation to English local authorities. They then issue their guidance, which Welsh local authorities must take account of in fulfilling the duty.