Whitehall's plan to retain a veto over the ‘right to buy' policy in Wales could be illegal, experts have warned. A joint committee of MPs and Lords has cast doubt on a deal struck over the devolution of housing policy between the Welsh Assembly and Westminster. Earlier this year, an agreement was reached to transfer oversight of housing from Westminster to the Welsh Assembly. But under the plan, the Secretary of State in Westminster could exercise a veto over the use of ‘right to buy' programmes for council tenants. On 11 March, the joint committee on statutory instruments (JCSI) reported the veto ‘seemed a remarkable proposition' and said there was ‘doubt' over its legality. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalists, had questioned the deal when it was first agreed, and argued it could set a precedent for further veto powers in the future. However, Westminster's Wales Office remains confident the agreement will be upheld. A spokesman for the department said: ‘Both the UK Government and the Welsh Assembly Government have noted the conclusions of the JCSI, but we are confident that the order we have agreed, and which was approved in the National Assembly for Wales, is legal.'
