The Welsh Affairs Committee

The Welsh Affairs Committee The Welsh Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (including relations with the National Assembly for Wales.) Current membership Dr Hywel Francis MP (Chairman) (Labour, Aberavon) Mr Stephen Crabb MP (Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire) David T. C. Davies MP (Conservative, Monmouth) Nia Griffith MP (Labour, Llanelli) Mrs Siân C. James MP (Labour, Swansea East) Mr David Jones MP (Conservative, Clwyd West) Mr Martyn Jones MP (Labour, Clwyd South) Mrs Madeleine Moon MP (Labour Bridgend) Jessica Morden MP (Labour, Newport East) Hywel Williams MP (Plaid Cymru, Caernarfon) Mark Williams MP (Liberal Democrat, Ceredigion) Betty Williams MP was a Member of the Committee during the inquiry. Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/welsh_affairs_committee.cfm. A list of Reports of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the back of this volume. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are James Davies (Clerk), Dr Rebecca Davies (Committee Specialist), Jane Trew (Committee Assistant), Sarah Colebrook (Secretary) and Jim Lawford (Senior Office Clerk). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Welsh Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3264; and the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales 1 Contents Report Page 1 Introduction 3 Background to the Government’s Proposals 3 Historical Perspective 3 Devolution in Wales 4 Assembly Review of Procedure 4 Richard Commission 5 Scrutiny of the White Paper 6 Wales Office Consultation 6 National Assembly for Wales: Committee on the Better Governance for Wales White Paper 6 Welsh Affairs Committee Inquiry 6 Production of a New Government of Wales Bill 8 The benefits of stand-alone legislation 8 Draft Legislation 9 Welsh Statute Book 10 2 The Separation of the Executive and the Legislature 11 Background 11 Powers to appoint and dismiss Assembly Ministers 12 Dissolution of National Assembly 12 Appointment of Deputies 13 Number of Ministers 14 Ability to change the name of the Institutions 14 Size of the National Assembly 16 The potential pressures on the current size 16 Increasing the Number of Assembly Members 17 National Assembly Committees 18 Regional Committees 19 Removal of Ministers from Committees 19 Powers 20 Co-opted Members 21 Standing Orders 22 Human Resources 24 3 Recommendations of the National Assembly Committee 26 The Statutory Duties of the National Assembly for Wales 26 Special Provision for the Welsh Language 27 Resource Budget 27 4 New Legislative Powers 28 The Current Position 28 Stage 1 29 Monitoring of UK Government’s adherence to the new policy 29 2 Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales The role of the Welsh Affairs Committee 30 Statements in Explanatory Memoranda 30 Stage 2 31 Introduction 31 The content of Orders in Council 31 Proposals for the passage of Orders in Council 32 Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of Orders in Council 32 Draft of Orders in Council 33 Parliamentary consideration of draft Orders in Council 33 The Role of the Secretary of State 36 Stage 3 39 A Referendum on Primary Powers 39 Definition of primary powers of the National Assembly 40 The Role of the Secretary of State 42 5 Electoral Reform 43 Conclusions and recommendations 47 Formal minutes 53 List of witnesses 58 List of written evidence 59 Reports from the Welsh Affairs Committee since 2005 60 Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales 3 1 Introduction Background to the Government’s Proposals Historical Perspective 1. Following the conquest of Wales by Edward the First in the 13th century, the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1543 formalized the assimilation of Wales into England, establishing the single legal jurisdiction of England and Wales.1 It was not until the 19th century that a cultural awakening in Wales, alongside the issue of Home Rule for Ireland, raised the issue of devolution for Wales.2 Whilst Parliament rejected this pressure, the Liberal Government of 1880-1885 succeeded in passing the Welsh Sunday Closing Act 1881, the first piece of legislation that set out different principles of legislation for Wales and England.3 The 1920s and 1930s saw renewed pressure for devolution, partly as a result of the creation of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru in 1925. However, devolution was rejected as a distraction from the harsh economic realities of life in Wales during the interwar recession.4 2. The Conservative Government of 1951 established a Ministry of Welsh Affairs, later upgraded to a Minister of State in 1954.5 The first Secretary of State for Wales, Jim Griffiths, was appointed by the Labour Government in 1964.6 3. During the 1970s devolution resurfaced as significant political issue. Parliament passed legislation for devolution which was put to the Welsh public in a post legislative referendum on the 1st March 1979, and was rejected by a majority of 4-1.7 4. Following the failed referendum, the focus of pro-devolution campaigners largely shifted to cultural and linguistic issues. The 1980s witnessed a flurry of publications of Welsh history texts,8 and a dramatic increase in Welsh medium education provision in Wales.9 In 1982, S4C, the Welsh language television channel was established.10 The Welsh Language Act, establishing the Welsh Language Board was passed in 1993. 1 John Davies (1992), Hanes Cymru: A History of Wales in Welsh, (Penguin, London), pp 225-226. 2 K.O. Morgan (1981), Wales 1880-1980: Rebirth of a Nation (Oxford University Press), p 32. 3 Further Acts followed, including: Intermediate Education Act 1889; the Welsh Courts Act 1942; the Disestablishment of the Church (Wales) Act 1920 and the Welsh Language Act 1967. 4 John Davies Op cit pp 526-527. 5 K.O.Morgan Op cit p 379. 6 John Davies Op cit p 641. 7 Gwyn Alf Williams (1985), When was Wales? (Penguin, London), p 294. 8 E.g. Morgan (1981), Williams (1985) and Davies (1992). 9 Gareth E Jones (1997), The Education of a Nation (University of Wales Press, Cardiff). 10 John Davies, Op cit pp, 680-81. 4 Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales 5. At the same time administrative devolution continued to expand dramatically. By 1997, the Welsh Office employed over 2500 civil servants, administering a range of policy areas from agriculture to education.11 Between 1979 and 1994 the number of QUANGOs (Quasi Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisations) in Wales doubled from 40 to 80. By 1995, an estimated 1,400 people had been nominated to Quangos, which were responsible for an annual expenditure of around £2000 million a year.12 Devolution in Wales 6. In 1994, the Labour party made democratic devolution for Wales a manifesto commitment. Six months after its 1997 General Election victory, the Welsh public voted in favour of devolution in a referendum by a margin of 6,721 votes.13 In November 1997, the Labour Government introduced the Government of Wales Bill. That Bill provided for the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales; a Corporate Body, which would work along similar lines to that of local Government. The corporate body was a single executive body, setting and implementing policies in Wales within the frameworks created by primary legislation passed in Westminster. This structure was intended to reflect and promote the principles of inclusiveness and power sharing in the new Assembly.14 The Bill received its second reading on 8th and 9th December 1997 and received Royal Assent on 31st July 1998. As a result, the Secretary of State for Wales’ powers passed to a democratically elected body of 60 members, the first body of its kind to exist in Wales for over 600 years. Following the first National Assembly elections on 6 May 1999, it was formally opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 26 May 1999. Assembly Review of Procedure 7. A consensus quickly grew that while the Corporate Body model was adequate, it was not the most effective form of devolution for Wales. During July 2000, after the first year of the National Assembly, Rt. Hon. Rhodri Morgan AM, the then First Secretary of the National Assembly, instigated an Assembly Review of Procedure.15 That Review among other things considered “the Corporate Body vs. separation of the ‘executive’ and ‘legislative’ arms - roles and relationships”.16 It recommended the widest possible split between the “Government” and “Legislature”, which was possible within the Corporate Body model contained within the 1998 Act.17 The result was the creation of the term Welsh Assembly Government. The First Minister explained that the title “was agreed across the four parties in the Assembly that we needed to stretch the elastic – not break the elastic, but stretch the elastic – of the Government of Wales Bill of 1998, so as to make as clear as possible the distinction between the executive branch and the legislative branch”.18 The title First 11 See the Report of the Richard Commission, p 8 for a full list. 12 See John Osmond (1995), The Contradictions of Welsh politics, in Scottish Affairs, no.11, pp 31-47. 13 The referendum was held on 18thof September 1997. 14 Report of the Richard Commission, pp 48 and 50.

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