Welsh Parliament

10 Key excerpts on "Welsh Parliament"

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  The Government and Politics of Wales

  • Russell Deacon, Alison Denton, Robert Southall(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Edinburgh University Press

    (Publisher)

  Thus, we can say from the British constitution that through statute or convention the Westminster Parliament and Whitehall recognise Wales as a nation-state separate from England for many aspects of governance and legislation. Consequently, by these constitutional measures alone, Wales can be seen as a nation-state, with a number of elements of its own political sovereignty. This means, therefore, that it is not just a region of a larger state, despite the fact that it is frequently still defined as such in both UK and international documents and publications. It is recognised at a nation internationally, for instance, in sport such as foot- ball, rugby and the Commonwealth Games, with the same status as any other sovereign nation. Although unlike other sovereign nations, it does not have its own legal sovereignty, which means it cannot sign treaties or engage in other international obligations without going through the UK government. Although both the Welsh Secretary and First Minister The Evolution of Welsh Devolution 11 Table 1.2 Important events on the road to a Welsh Assembly, 1964–99 (a) 1964–79 A succession of Welsh Secretaries brought in new responsibilities; created new public bodies, ranging from the Welsh Development Agency to the Wales Tourist Board; then established an annual Welsh block grant from Westminster to fund the duties of the Welsh Office in 1979. At the same time, the Barnett formula was established in order to determine any additional expenditure to Wales on top of this Welsh block grant 1979 St David’s Day referendum for a Welsh Assembly was defeated by five to one. 1979 The Welsh Affairs Select Committee was established, in part to fill the void left by the failure to establish a Welsh Assembly 1983 The General Election manifestos of the Welsh Liberal/SDP Alliance and Plaid Cymru made it clear that both political parties still supported the idea of a Welsh Parliament.

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  Toward an Anthropology of Government

  Democratic Transformations and Nation Building in Wales

  • W. Schumann(Author)
  • 2009(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Despite these complications—and because of them—I now turn to advocate for a more fully empowered Parliament of Wales even while admitting that such a change in the balance of UK power will not by necessity resolve the tensions between the institutional and representative legiti- mation of Welsh democracy . To reinforce this argument, I first revisit and integrate the four elements of my research program—historical context, institutional practice, representative practice, and social/multi- institutional context—to pose the practical question: how might the National Assembly better justify itself as a site of Welsh democracy? History, practice, context My initial goal was to set parliamentar y practices of the National Assembly in historical context to explain the premises of their legitimacy . History first helps to indicate why devolution emerged as a rational pol- icy response in the UK, and secondarily why the discourses of inclusion, transparency, and modernity featured so prominently in the institutional design and subsequent parliamentary practices of the National Assembly . In the first instance, social and economic history distinguishes Wales as a space of negation of and subordination to Anglicization and/or the larger program of UK industrialization and empire building. While the encroachment of a UK public sphere/parliamentary complex no doubt extended the rights of and opportunities for representation in Welsh society, the social and economic foundations of this process set Wales apart from the UK mainstream, whether as “one-class” industrial com- munities or rural enclaves steeped in agricultural, religious, and/or Welsh language traditions. The case of the long-term struggle for full parlia- mentary recognition of the civil and educational rights of Welsh speakers specifies some of the complications inherent to officially acknowledg- ing social diversity within a universalizing framework of citizenship.

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  Constitutional and Administrative Law

  • Roger Masterman, Colin Murray(Authors)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  99 The Senedd, however, still lacks competences in areas such as crime and policing enjoyed by Holyrood and Stormont, reflecting the extent to which Wales remains intertwined in England and Wales as a jurisdiction. A Commission headed by the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, has recommended that justice powers should be transferred to the Senedd. 100 Even with its new fiscal powers, the Senedd only controls one-tenth of its income (making it much more reliant on the block grant than Scotland). Finally, the Senedd has not expanded in size in light of its new powers. As Trench noted much earlier in this reform process, if Cardiff ‘becomes at all active as a legislature, it is hard to see how the issue of its size can be avoided’. 101 Welsh devolution remains a work in progress. DEVOLUTION IN PRACTICE: NORTHERN IRELAND Key Issues • Northern Ireland was the first part of the UK to experience devolved governance, with the Parliament of Northern Ireland sitting from June 1921 to March 1972. This Unionist-dominated Parliament was suspended in the early years of the Northern Ireland conflict, having failed to address the interests of the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland. • In Northern Ireland devolution is one facet of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement 1998, a peace settlement intended to bring an end to decades of political violence. As a result, devolution was not intended simply to improve standards of governance in Northern Ireland but to provide a forum in which Nationalist and Unionist politicians cooperate in government (‘power sharing’). • The Northern Ireland Assembly enjoys broad law-making powers equivalent to those of the Scottish Parliament, but in a more limited range of areas. The Northern Ireland Act 1998 makes provision for additional, currently ‘reserved’, areas of competence to be transferred to the Assembly provided that it is functioning satisfactorily.

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  Comparing Devolved Governance

  • D. Birrell(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  4 Parliament and Assemblies and their Legislative Role The establishment of directly elected bodies as Parliament/Assemblies quickly saw them develop in the public perception as the physical embodiment of devolution. The titles used reflected mainly historical factors and differ- ences in functions. The Scottish Parliament reflected the previous existence of a Scottish Parliament as well as the body set up in 1999 with major gov- ernmental powers. The National Assembly of Wales reflected a history of nationhood but had fewer powers than the term parliament might imply. The Northern Ireland Assembly reflected a new entity and a historic change from the old Northern Ireland Parliament with its House of Commons and Senate. It was difficult for the new institutions to escape from the ways of working of the Westminster Parliament and two of the main functions of the Westminster Parliament can be ascribed to the devolved bodies as also embracing their main activities, a legislative role and a scrutiny role. Each role is considered in detail in this and the following chapter. Composition of the elected bodies The number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) may seem quite large at 129 but does reflect in part a decision to make up for the reduction in the number of Scottish MPs returned to Westminster given the opera- tion of the Scottish Parliament and also a desire to ensure a wide represen- tation of Scotland in the new institution (Gay and Morgan, 1998). With a lower population, the Northern Ireland Assembly has a large membership of 108 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) intended to represent a wide range of views and even act as an incentive for involvement in the political process but it can also be viewed in the context of a very limited local government system. The National Assembly of Wales has the smallest membership of 60 on the grounds of the original limited functions.

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  The History of Wales

  • John Graham Jones(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • University of Wales Press

    (Publisher)

  On his first visit to Wales as Leader of the Opposition during the following December, David Cameron stated that ‘devolution is here to stay’. The Government of Wales Act 2006 then reformed the National Assembly and allowed further powers to be more easily granted. The Act created a system of government with a separate executive drawn from, and accountable to, the legislature. It created an executive body – the Welsh Assembly Government (and known since May 2011 as the Welsh Government) – that is separate from the legislative body, that is, the National Assembly for Wales. There were many critics who argued that this concession was no more than plain subterfuge. The journalist Martin Shipton asserted, ‘We remain as subservient as we ever were to the Westminster parliament. The devolution settlement imposed on Wales by the Government of Wales Act of 2006 amounts to nothing more than a conjuring trick designed to conceal an instrument of national humiliation.’ Even so, it could not be denied that the National Assembly had made its mark on the world scene, in part as a result of its number of women AMs, which made up fully one-half of the assembly membership, an unprecedented composition worldwide. In the third National Assembly elections held in May 2007, Plaid Cymru made gains at the expense of the Labour Party, although Labour, with 26 AMs, still remained the largest party in the Assembly, as they had been ever since its inception. There were now 15 Plaid Cymru, 12 Conservative and 6 Liberal Democrat AMs. Plaid Cymru stated it would make a referendum on the devolving of further powers to the National Assembly a condition for any coalition. It was reported that senior civil servants before the election were The History of Wales 192 preparing for three possible coalition administrations: Labour/ Liberal Democrat, Labour/Plaid Cymru or Plaid Cymru/Liberal Democrat/Conservative.

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  The Labour Party and Constitutional Reform

  A History of Constitutional Conservatism

  • P. Dorey(Author)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  Such results, coupled with advances by the SNP in Welsh Devolution 253 Scotland, obliged the Wilson Government to treat increasing nationalist aspirations in Wales with at least a little more care and consideration. Consequently, there were four main responses. Firstly, several Acts of Parliament were introduced which were directly applicable to Wales, most notably the 1967 Leasehold Reform Act (for the significance of this measure in Wales, see Griffiths, 1969: 181–3) and the 1967 Welsh Language Act, whilst the 1969 Development of Tourism Act established the Welsh Tourist Board. Secondly, a Cabinet committee on devolution was established, this meeting periodically during 1968, before being disbanded in November of that year. George Thomas, who had by this time replaced Cledwyn Hughes as Secretary of State for Wales, drew the committee’s attention to the distinction between parliamentary devolution and administrat- ive devolution and made clear his support for the latter. Not only did he believe that a Welsh Parliament would weaken Wales’ position vis-a-vis Westminster, he also feared that it would actually encourage the minority who wanted an independent Wales to make further demands to this end. By contrast, Thomas argued, administrative devolution did not weaken ‘the essential unity of the United Kingdom’ or the sovereignty of Parliament and was ‘consistent with both the democratic principles and economic strategies of our Party’. He therefore recommended that further responsibilities, most notably those pertaining to agriculture, education and health, be devolved to the Welsh Office in Cardiff. At the same time, he envisaged a strengthening of the newly formed Welsh Council, to be a part-nominated, part-elected body whose role would be similar to that of the Greater London Council (GLC).

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  The Cambridge History of Welsh Literature

  • Geraint Evans, Helen Fulton(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  The assembly’s powers outlined in the Act were less extensive than those conferred on the Scottish Parliament (which was also established following a referendum in 1997). The assembly did not have primary law- making authority; it could only make delegated legislation within its areas of devolved competence. The National Assembly officially opened in Cardiff in May 1999. Many complained that it had no more power than the former 655 Welsh Office in London and drew attention to difficulties over funding. There was considerable confusion over the assembly’s initial powers, and the evolution of the body has been characterized by the continual effort to clarify, streamline, and acquire more powers. 2 The Richard Commission was established in 2002 to assess the further devolution of power, and it recommended in 2004 that the National Assembly should be transformed ‘into a full-fledged legislative assembly with primary legislative powers on all matters not explicitly reserved to Westminster’. 3 The deliberation that followed the Commission’s recom- mendations was characterized by three factors: it was dominated by Labour Party concerns; it took place behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny; and most of the key decisions were made in London, not Wales. 4 As a result, many of the recommendations of the Commission attracted criticism. The Government of Wales Act passed in 2006 extended the legislative powers of the assembly and created a separate executive, the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). The 2006 rebalancing is described as the introduction of ‘a scheme of quasi-legislative devolution’, 5 as considerable power was retained by Whitehall and Westminster with the secretary of state exercising more influence than his or her counterpart in Scotland. This reflected the ambivalence within elite Labour circles about the process of devolution.

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  Butler's British Political Facts

  • Roger Mortimore, Andrew Blick, Roger Mortimore, Andrew Blick(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Palgrave Macmillan

    (Publisher)

  In 1979 a Select Committee on Welsh Affairs was appointed (see p. 351). Welsh national or separatist feeling has, however, expressed itself in forces other than the movement for home rule or devolution. The most important aspects of this have been the campaigns on such matters as the Church, educa- tion, land, temperance reform and the Welsh language. The Welsh Language Act 1967 paved the way for the removal of restrictions on the use of the Welsh language in official documents and in the administration of justice in Wales; the Welsh Language Act 1993 extended the provisions of the 1967 Act. The Education Reform Act 1988 and the Education Act 1992 provided opportuni- ties for the development of a Welsh ethos in education (Curriculum Cymreig) and the use of Welsh in the 15–18 age group was estimated at 25% in 1999. In 1901, 50% of the population spoke Welsh; in 1931 the figure was 37%; in 1951, 29%; in 1961, 26%; in 1971, 21%; in 1981, 19% and in 1991, 19%. A Welsh language television channel was established in 1982. In 1978 the Wales Act provided for the establishment of a devolved Welsh Assembly in Cardiff, subject to a referendum, but the proposal was heavily defeated (see p. 450). Following its election victory in May 1997, the Labour Party moved swiftly to implement its promise of a Welsh Assembly. In a Referendum on 18 Sep 1997 (see p. 450), Wales voted narrowly in favour of a Welsh Assem- bly, and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provided for a National Assem- bly (Cynulliad) for Wales. The Assembly had limited political functions and, unlike the Scottish Parliament, had no tax-raising powers. The first election took place on 6 May 1999 and the Assembly met on 13 May in Cardiff. At first there was a minority Labour Government but in February 2000 after the resignation of A. Michael an understanding between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was arrived at.

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  The Scottish Parliament

  Law and Practice

  • Mark Lazarowicz, Jean McFadden(Authors)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Edinburgh University Press

    (Publisher)

  CHAPTER SEVEN Relations between Scotland and Westminster INTRODUCTION As we have seen in Chapter 2, the Scottish Parliament has its powers devolved to it by the UK Parliament, and the UK Parliament has not relinquished its sovereignty. The Scottish Parliament is, therefore, a body subordinate to the UK Parliament. The SA 2016 introduced provisions designed to ‘entrench’ the existence of the Scottish Parliament in the UK constitutional order, stating that ‘The Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government are a permanent part of the United Kingdom’s con-stitutional arrangements’, and that they should not be abolished ‘except on the basis of a decision of the people of Scotland voting in a referen-dum’. 1 Moreover, these provisions are described as signifying ’the com-mitment of the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom to the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government’, and it was made clear by Ministers at the time of their introduction that this was a ‘political declaration of permanence’. 2 It remains the case, however, that the UK Parliament has retained its supremacy and sovereignty over the Scottish Parliament and could abolish the Scottish Parliament if it so wished. It can nevertheless be expected that, as long as the Scottish Parliament remains popular as an institution with the Scottish people, the UK Parliament is unlikely to take such drastic action. Nevertheless, the UK Parliament retains some important controls over the Scottish Parliament. LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE CONTROLS As has been explained in Chapter 2, 3 two areas reserved to the UK Parliament by Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998 (SA 1998) are the Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England and the Parliament of the UK, and most of the provisions of the SA 1998 are protected 146 THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT from modification by Schedule 4.

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  Beyond devolution and decentralisation

  Building regional capacity in Wales and Brittany

  • Alistair Cole(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Manchester University Press

    (Publisher)

  The current piecemeal approach is a source of fragility. In the event of different political majorities in Cardiff and London, scenarios are extremely difficult to predict. No part of the British constitution sets out what is to be deemed primary and what secondary legislation. At present, there are no guaranteed powers for the Assembly. Even without formally challenging the devolution settlements, Rawlings (2001) points out that a future hostile government could ‘cheat the Assembly of its powers’ by minimising the range of statutory instruments agreed in future laws. Each of the measures of coordination evoked in this section are fundamentally unstable. Party ties are, by their nature, contingent on circumstances. A change of government in London would undermine existing patterns of co-ordination.

  Conclusion

  Though the institutions are still relatively young, the achievements of devolution in Wales are very real, in terms of both political process and public policy. First and foremost, the Assembly has survived. Though the jury is still out (in 2003, the election turn-out declined from 46 per cent to 37 per cent), there is some evidence that the first term of devolution provided the mobilising project necessary to embed the Welsh polity and to build Welsh civil society, in the long run potentially overcoming an important social capital deficit. There is a more cohesive party system, the equilibrium of which is favourable to making the devolved institutions work. There is the ‘Team Wales’ approach, whatever its limitations in practice. There are much closer contacts between Welsh Assembly government officials and Assembly-sponsored public bodies than in the pre-devolution era. Welsh civil servants have integrated the logic of the new institutional arrangements into their own thinking. There is the appearance, finally, of all-Wales organisations within civil society and the gradual recognition by professional organisations (the CBI and TUC notably) of the need to take devolution into account in their own organisation. Here, the emphasis on the temporal dimension is vital; relationships need to be developed over time, a scarce resource for new institutions such as the National Assembly for Wales.

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