Whilst powers over local services should be devolved to local government, the Welsh Government through the Senedd should have the competence and powers to set the legislative and strategic framework for Wales.
Most matters affecting Wales' communities and most local government functions and services are devolved to the Senedd; some however remain UK Government functions, including police and the benefits system. The WLGA provides the local government interface with the Senedd and the Welsh Government and seeks to provide a single, united local government voice.
The WLGA's corporate strategy and annual business plan underpins its work in lobbying for local government interests and in promoting the principle of subsidiarity, fair and flexible funding and a commitment to partnership. The WLGA regularly provides evidence on behalf of local government to Senedd Committee Inquiries , during the scrutiny of legislation and works with Members of the Senedd on matters of mutual concern or interest.
Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available. This in effect provided the Assembly with the right to create secondary legislation and have 60 Assembly Members AMs. However, in the Government of Wales Act GOWA was passed in the Westminster Parliament and transferred power to the Welsh Assembly to make its own law primary legislation within a number of specific areas, such as education and health.
This means that the laws passed in the Westminster Parliament still apply to Wales but certain subject areas are now transferred to the Welsh government that resides in the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff. It is important to note that the legislature is separate from the Welsh Government, which is known as the executive.
This recognises the separation of powers between the legislatures, which includes all AMs from different political parties. Just like the UK government, the political party that holds the majority of seats in the Welsh Assembly forms the government. The function of the Welsh Government is to consider and implement policy decisions through the legislative process, whereas the Welsh Assembly legislature all the AMs scrutinise proposed legislation being put forward by the Welsh government: this reflects the same process that takes place in the Westminster Parliament when new legislation is being debated.
Read this extract and make some notes. The most limited form of devolution was devised for Wales. Moreover, it was clear when devolution was introduced that there was much less popular support for this change in Wales. The major original difference was that the Welsh Assembly, unlike the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, was not granted the power to pass legislation in its own right.
The fact that Welsh Bills had to take their place in the queue before being shepherded through the Westminster Parliament by the Welsh secretary was regarded as a serious drawback.
However, in practice, the new procedure overcame the problem of securing the passage of legislation required for Wales through the Westminster Parliament. The revised arrangements for Welsh legislation might have proved problematic if there was a strong conflict of wills between the Welsh Assembly and the government in power at Westminster—for example, if different political parties had a majority in the Assembly and at Westminster.
There are some obvious parallels between Scotland and Wales with respect to the electoral system and the organization of the legislative and executive bodies. Each elector is given two votes. Assembly members for each constituency are returned by simple majority, while the four Assembly members for each region are returned by a system of proportional representation based on party lists.
In common with Scotland, the Welsh Assembly is required to form policy and take decisions in its particular areas of responsibility. Also, as in Scotland, the cabinet style of government is formed following an election.
The newly elected members of the Welsh Assembly vote for a first minister. Once elected, the first minister has the power to appoint an Executive Committee of Assembly Secretaries, which forms the equivalent of a cabinet. The ministerial portfolios of this executive committee the combinations of policy areas allocated to the individual assembly secretaries determine the areas of competence of the scrutiny committees or subject committees that are subsequently formed to provide executive oversight.
The appointments to the executive committee can be from a single party or a combination of parties. As with Scotland, the Welsh executive took over, by means of transfer orders, most of the administrative functions of the secretary of state for Wales under the Government of Wales Act Although the National Assembly of Wales was formed as a single corporate body, a de facto division emerged postdevolution between the Welsh Assembly government and the Welsh Assembly as a representative body.
Perhaps reflecting the lack of time and space to step back and think strategically about their role and work, AMs had few concrete suggestions for reform. However, they did have a sense that the Assembly was not as effective as it could be, and not as distinct as it should be, given the aspirations at the time of devolution that Cardiff should be different from Westminster. The report suggested that the problems facing AMs were as much cultural as procedural, and that political space was needed for an inclusive discussion transcending party lines and focusing on the challenges AMs share in common.
The launch event for our Delegated Legislation Review raised a number of challenging constitutional and practical issues to be explored further during the Review process. The vivid discussions also confirmed the existence of both heightened interest in delegated legislation and a large degree of cross-party consensus on the need for reform. Our explanations of key terms to help you understand the delegated legislation system at Westminster and the debate about its reform. The event — which included two panel discussions with Members from across the political spectrum and a keynote address by Steve Baker MP — unpacked the problems with the delegated legislation system and explored avenues for reform.
There are problems with both the delegation of powers to make delegated legislation and the scrutiny of the Statutory Instruments SIs that arise from those powers. This report sets out some of the central problems that need to be resolved with respect to each of these two aspects of the system. The Hansard Society has long argued that the system of delegated legislation is not fit for purpose. This leaflet explains our Delegated Legislation Review.
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