The () is a
Devolved Assembly with power to make legislation in
Wales . The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as
Assembly Members , or AMs (). Members are elected for four year terms under an
Additional Members System , where 40 AMs represent geographical
Constituencies elected by the
Plurality system, and 20 AMs from
Five Electoral Regions using the
D'Hondt Method of
Proportional Representation .
Following a
Referendum in 1997, the Assembly was created by the
Government Of Wales Act 1998 . Most of the powers of the
Welsh Office and
Secretary Of State For Wales were transferred to the Assembly. When first created, the Assembly had no powers to initiate
Primary Legislation , however, following the passing of the
Government Of Wales Act 2006 , the Assembly now has powers to legislate in some areas, though still subject to the veto of the
Secretary Of State or
Parliament .
The establishment of the .
The 1979 Referendums : . Retrieved 9 July 2006.
After the
1997 General Election , the new Labour Government argued that an Assembly would be more democratically accountable than the
Welsh Office . For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the
UK Cabinet by a
Secretary Of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at
Westminster .
Evidence to Richards Commission of Cllr Russell Goodway. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
A second referendum was held on
18 September 1997 in which voters approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales by a majority of just 6,712 votes.
Politics 97 by Joshua Rozenberg: Retrieved 9 July 2006.
The following year the
Government Of Wales Act was passed by
Parliament , establishing the Assembly.
See Also: Senedd
The Assembly building in Partnership and built by
Taylor Woodrow . It uses traditional Welsh materials such as slate and Welsh oak in its construction, and the design is based around the concepts of openness and transparency.
The Senedd houses the debating chamber () and Committee Rooms. It was officially opened by Queen
Elizabeth II on
St. David's Day ,
1 March 2006 .
The New National Assembly for Wales Senedd opened on St David’s Day National Assembly for Wales, Public Information page. Retrieved 4 May 2006
The Senedd is designed to be environmentally friendly: it uses an Earth Heat Exchange system for heating; rainwater is collected from the roof and used for flushing toilets and cleaning windows, and the roof features a wind cowl which funnels natural light and air into the debating chamber below.http://www.urban75.org/photos/wales/welsh-assembly-senedd.html
The Assembly was initially based in
Crickhowell House , next to the site of the present building. The offices of Assembly Members are still in this building which is connected to the Senedd by a walkway. The
National Assembly For Wales Commission is also responsible for the
Pierhead Building , which is the location of "The Assembly at the Pierhead" exhibition , and is the Visitor and Education Centre for the National Assembly for Wales as well as housing a small giftshop. The exhibition (currently still in the process of being updated following May's election) provides visitors with a unique opportunity to access the most up-to-date information on who's who, what's happening and how the Assembly works.
See Also: Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
After each election, the Assembly elects one Assembly Member to serve as
Presiding Officer (), and another to serve as a deputy.
Lord Elis-Thomas ,
Plaid Cymru AM, has been Presiding Officer since the Assembly was created, and was re-elected to the position on
9 May 2007 . Rosemary Butler AM was elected as his deputy. The Presiding Officer also acts as Chair of the
National Assembly For Wales Commission .
As with the Scottish Executive, the permanent administrative and support staff of the Welsh Assembly Government are UK civil servants with the same constitutional status as their colleagues in the Wales Office and other Whitehall departments. In the Assembly itself, following the politically controversial departure of veteran Westminster clerk Paul Silk following a clash of visions between him and the Presiding Officer, UK civil servant
Claire Clancy was appointed both to take over Silk's role as Clerk to the Assembly and also to take up the new post of Chief Executive Officer to the newly founded Assembly Commission.
The National Assembly consists of 60 elected members. They use the title '''. Retrieved
2006-07-13 . The executive arm of the Assembly
Welsh Assembly Government , is led by
First Minister ,
Rhodri Morgan .''
National Assembly for Wales, Organization '' Cabinet Members, Welsh Assembly
The executive and civil servants are mainly based in Cardiff's News''', 1 March 2006. Retrieved
2006-07-13 .
One important feature of the National Assembly until 2007 was that there was no legal or constitutional separation of the legislative and executive functions, since it was a single corporate entity. Compared with other
Parliamentary Systems , and arrangements for devolution in other countries of the UK, this was highly unusual. In practice, however, there was separation of functions, and the terms "Assembly Government" and "Assembly Parliamentary Service" came into use to distinguish between the two arms. The Government of Wales Act 2006 regularised the separation when it came into effect following the 2007 Assembly Election.
Initially, the Assembly did not have primary legislative or fiscal powers, as these powers were reserved by
Westminster . The Assembly did have powers to pass
Secondary Legislation in devolved areas. Sometimes secondary legislation could be used to amend
Primary Legislation , but the scope of this was very limited. for example, the first Government of Wales Act gave the Assembly power to amend primary legislation relating to the merger of certain public bodies. However, most secondary powers were conferred on the executive by primary legislation to give the executive (i.e., Ministers) more powers, and the Assembly has had wider legislative powers than appearances might suggest. For example, the Assembly delayed local elections due to be held in 2003 for a year by use of secondary powers, so that they would not correspond with Assembly elections. (In 2001 the UK parliament used primary legislation to delay for one month local elections in England during the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic).
While in principle the Assembly has no tax-varying powers, in reality it has some very limited power over taxes. For example, in Wales, as in England, the rate of
Council Tax is set by
Local Authorities , but since the Assembly largely determines the level of grants to local councils, it can influence the level of local taxation indirectly. It also has some discretion over charges for government services. Notable examples where this discretion has been used to create significant differences from other areas in the UK include:
# ''Charges for NHS prescriptions in Wales'' — these have now been abolished.
Q and A: Welsh prescription prices : , 1 October 2004. Retrieved
2006-07-31 .
# ''Charges for University Tuition'' — are different for Welsh resident students studying at Welsh Universities, compared with students from or studying elsewhere in the UK.
Q&A: Welsh top-up fees : , 22 June 2005. Retrieved
2006-07-31 .
# ''Charging for Residential Care'' — In Wales there is a flat rate of contribution towards the cost of nursing care, (roughly comparable to the highest level of English Contribution) for those who require residential care.
"NHS Continuing Care - Commons Health Select Committee" , ''News and Views - NHFA''. Retrieved
2006-11-10 .
This means in reality that there is a wider definition of "nursing care" than in England and therefore less dependence on means testing in Wales than in England, meaning that more people are entitled to higher levels of state assistance. These variations in the levels of charges, may be viewed as ''
De Facto '' tax varying powers.
This model of more limited legislative powers was partly due to the fact that Wales has had the same legal system as
England since
1536 , when it was
Annexed by England.
Ireland and
Scotland were never annexed by England, and so always retained some distinct differences in their legal systems. The
Scottish Parliament and the
Northern Ireland Assembly both have deeper and wider powers.
The Assembly inherited the powers and budget of the
Secretary Of State For Wales and most of the functions of the
Welsh Office . It has power to vary laws passed by
Westminster using secondary legislation.
Peter Hain , whose principal UK cabinet role is as
Secretary Of State For Work And Pensions and who represents a Welsh constituency (
Neath ) in the Westminster Parliament, retains a vestigial role as
Secretary Of State For Wales .
The Welsh Assembly has the power to make legislation in the following areas
Government of Wales Act 2006 Chapter 32 schedule 5 :
The National Assembly for Wales also has matters to legislate which governs the body itself, mainly the costs of passing
Assembly Measures and the register of interests.
Some (STV) which would produce greater
Proportionality .
In response the UK Government, in its ''Better Government for Wales'' White Paper, published on
15 June 2005 , proposed a more permissive law-making system for the Welsh Assembly based on the use of Parliamentary Orders in Council. ''
Better Governance for Wales White Paper ''. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Wales in June 2005. Downloadable PDF. Retrieved 9 December 2005''
Electoral Reform for Wales ''. Electoral Reform Society response to rejection of Richard Commission recommendations. Retrieved 9 December 2005. In so doing, the Government rejected many of the cross party Richard Commission's recommendations. This has attracted criticism from opposition parties and others.
Recent polls suggest that a majority of the Welsh support full legislative powers.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6621677.stm Wales 'is warming to devolution']. BBC News,
3 May 2007 . Accessed
10 May 2007 ..
The
Government Of Wales Act 2006 received
Royal Assent on 25 July 2006. It confers on the Assembly legislative powers akin to other
Devolved legislatures, although Assembly
Order-in-Council requests will be subject to the veto of the
Secretary Of State For Wales ,
House Of Commons or
House Of Lords .
The Act reforms the assembly to a parliamentary-type structure, establishing the
Assembly Government as an entity separate from, but accountable to the National Assembly. It enables the Assembly to legislate within its devolved fields. Members of the
Parliament Of The United Kingdom retain the power to veto Assembly laws, to be known as
Assembly Measures , in certain circumstances.
The Act also reforms the Assembly's electoral system. It prevents individuals from standing as candidates in both constituency and regional seats. This aspect of the act was subject to a great deal of criticism, most notably from the
Electoral Commission .
The Act has been heavily criticised.
Plaid Cymru , the Official Opposition in the National Assembly from 1999 - 2007, attacked it for not delivering a fully-fledged Parliament. Many commentators have also criticised the Labour Party's allegedly partisan attempt to alter the electoral system. By preventing regional Assembly Members from standing in constituency seats the party has been accused of changing the rules to protect constituency representatives. Labour had 29 members in the Assembly at the time, all of whom held constituency seats.
The changes to the Assembly's powers were commenced on May 4th 2007, after the
Election .
Assembly powers bill becomes law : . 25 July 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
Under system had been considered for the Assembly by the
Labour Party as early as 1995-96, but according to the evidence given to the Richard Commission by
Ron Davies , a former
Welsh Secretary ,
To date there have been three
Elections To The Assembly , in 1999, 2003 and 2007.
There have been three elections to the Assembly, in
1999 ,
2003 and
2007 .
See Also: Welsh Assembly election, 2007
| |
Welsh Labour Party
|
| |
314,925
|
| |
322
|
| |
-78
|
| |
24
|
| |
−5
|
| |
288,954
|
| |
296
|
| |
-69
|
| |
2
|
| |
+2
|
| |
'''26'''
|
| |
−3
|
| |
433
|
|
| |
Plaid Cymru
|
| |
219,121
|
| |
224
|
| |
+12
|
| |
7
|
| |
+2
|
| |
204,757
|
| |
210
|
| |
+23
|
| |
8
|
| |
+1
|
| |
'''15'''
|
| |
+3
|
| |
250
|
|
| |
Welsh Conservative Party
|
| |
218,730
|
| |
224
|
| |
+24
|
| |
5
|
| |
+4
|
| |
209,153
|
| |
214
|
| |
+23
|
| |
7
|
| |
-3
|
| |
'''12'''
|
| |
+1
|
| |
200
|
|
| |
Welsh Liberal Democrats
|
| |
144,450
|
| |
148
|
| |
+06
|
| |
3
|
| |
0
|
| |
114,500
|
| |
117
|
| |
-10
|
| |
3
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''6'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
100
|
|
| |
Independent (politician)
|
| |
29,699
|
| |
1
|
| |
0
|
| |
9,350
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''1'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
17
|
|
| |
British National Party
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
42,197
|
| |
43
|
| |
+40
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
United Kingdom Independence Party
|
| |
18,047
|
| |
18
|
| |
-05
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
38,490
|
| |
40
|
| |
+05
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Green Party of England and Wales
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
33,803
|
| |
35
|
| |
-01
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Socialist Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
12,209
|
| |
12
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Welsh Christian Party
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
8,963
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Communist Party of Britain
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
3,708
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group
|
| |
3,348
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Christian Peoples Alliance
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
2,694
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Socialist Party (England and Wales)
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
1,865
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
RESPECT The Unity Coalition
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
1,792
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
English Democrats Party
|
| |
1,867
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
1,655
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Veritas (political party)
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
505
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
| |
Socialist Equality Party (UK)
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
''N/A''
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
292
|
| |
+00
|
| |
0
|
| |
0
|
| |
'''0'''
|
| |
0
|
| |
00
|
|
