Wales Council of the Co-operative
Party
|
Cyngor Cymru y Blaid Gydweithredol
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| Response to the Commission on the Powers and Electoral
Arrangement of the National Assembly for Wales |
| The Co-operative Party welcomes this opportunity to
contribute to the Commission’s review of the Powers
and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for
Wales. |
| The Co-operative Party promotes policies that promote
co-operative ideals and values. The Co-operative Party
has an active group of Co-operative Party AMs and engages
positively with the National Assembly for Wales on the
development of policies that improve the communities of
Wales and encapsulate co-operative ideals. |
| The Co-operative Party does not wish to see additional
powers for the National Assembly at this time. |
| CONSULTATION QUESTIONS |
| ARE THE POWERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SUFFICIENT
TO MEET THE NEEDS OF WALES |
| Q. Does the Government of Wales Act provide the Assembly
with the powers it needs to operate effectively and meet
the expectations of the people of Wales? |
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| R. The Government of Wales Act devolves power to
Wales in a manner that makes it extremely difficult to
determine the precise powers of the Assembly. This situation
is likely to become worse as more primary and secondary
legislation is passed in Westminster and Wales. |
| The unclear distribution of responsibility between
Westminster and Wales makes it less likely that the expectations
of the people of Wales, whatever those expectations are,
will be met. |
| Q. Whether, and how, the powers should be extended,
strengthened or changed and whether they should include
tax-varying powers? |
| R. The National Assembly does not need tax varying
powers. |
| Tax-varying powers are unlikely to be of practical
use to the National Assembly and therefore the National
Assembly does not need them. |
| STRUCTURE AND WORKING ARRANGEMENTS OF THE NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY |
| Q. If the Assembly were to acquire greater law making
powers – is it inevitable that it would need to be
reconstituted on the Parliamentary model? |
| R. The Parliamentary model is probably the only model
that would work most quickly in producing effective legislation. |
| If the Parliamentary model were adopted there would
need to be significant increase in resource available
to all aspects of the National Assembly: |
| 1) Welsh Assembly Government |
| 2) National Assembly Committees |
| 3) Presiding Office |
| to allow for the detailed drafting and scrutiny of
proposed legislation. |
| Q. What organisational changes would be needed to support
this model and what would be the gains and losses from
making this change? |
| The gains from the changes would in theory be legislation
that was more in keeping with the needs of Wales than
legislation generated in Westminster. The losses from
making this change would be the significant increase in
the cost of operating the National Assembly for Wales
with little public perception of benefit. |
| THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ASSEMBLY IN CARDIFF
AND THE PARLIAMENT AT WESTMINSTER |
| How effective has the Assembly been in influencing UK
Government policy making in relation to Wales – what
are the practical examples, which illustrate the strengths
and weaknesses of the process? |
| The answer to this question can be assessed partly
by looking at what pieces of legislation proposed by the
Welsh Assembly Government have been accepted by the UK
Government for inclusion in the UK legislative process. |
| The Welsh Assembly Government has managed to place
one Wales only Bill in the legislative programme 2002/2003
and 2003/2004 out of a request for 12 items. This reflects
a poor level of response to Welsh demands by the UK government
and indicates a significant level of weakness in the process. |
| Other examples include the failure in certain instances
of the Welsh Assembly Government to have Welsh only clauses
included in England and Wales Bills. |
| What are the advantages and disadvantages in principle
of having a law making process, which is shared between
Cardiff and Westminster and what are the respective contributions
of AMs, MPs and Peers? |
| The disadvantage of having a split law making process
is that the time taken to make law is likely to increase.
The likelihood of making poor law is likely to increase.
Deficiencies in the law making process for Wales have
been identified with scrutiny at Westminster concentrating
on matters relating to England with little regard given
to matters that relate to Wales on the mistaken assumption
that the National Assembly will deal with those matters.
The National Assembly as presently constituted is an ineffective
scrutiny body with AMs realising only slowly that the
most important role of AMs is scrutiny of legislation,
not policy development. |
| Welsh MPs need to have a strong role in the scrutiny
of legislation that affects Wales and a good working relationship
with the National Assembly for Wales Committees and the
Welsh Assembly Government so that scrutiny can be as effective
as possible. The roles of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee
and the Welsh Grand Committee should be expanded to allow
for more effective scrutiny at Westminster. |
| What would be gained or lost if powers to make fundamental
policy changes through primary legislation were passed
from Westminster to Cardiff? |
| In reality the use of primary legislative powers
would be limited to changes that were broadly cost neutral,
as the Assembly is not able to raise its own taxes. The
area of gain would be in clarity and consistency of legislation
and of legislation that fitted more appropriately with
the needs of Wales. |
| The transfer of primary legislative powers to Wales
would have economic benefits in that the skill base required
in Wales would increase and would be a boost to the already
well developing legal and professional services sector
in Wales. |
| How would Welsh interests be affected if the role of
Welsh MPs were to the reduced as a consequence of the
acquisition of primary law making powers by the National
Assembly? |
| The transfer of primary law making powers to the
National Assembly does not necessitate the reduction in
the role of Welsh MPs. The limits of the devolution settlement
means that there is still a significant and important
role for Welsh MPs in helping determine matters that affect
England and Wales and the wider United Kingdom. |
| THE ROLE OF THE UK GOVERNMENT AND THE SECRETARY OF
STATE FOR WALES |
| How would Welsh interests be affected if the Secretary
of State’s role were reduced as a consequence of
the acquisition of primary law making powers by the Assembly? |
| The Secretary of State has effectively two roles, |
| 1) Representing the interests of Wales in the
UK Cabinet |
| 2) Assisting in the passage of Welsh legislation
in the UK Parliament |
| If primary law making powers were transferred to
the Assembly then there would be a reduction of the role
of the Secretary for State for Wales and the Wales Office
in assisting with the passage of Welsh Legislation in
the UK Parliament. The need for the Secretary of State
for Wales to represent Wales in the UK Cabinet would remain. |
| What would be gained or lost if there was a clearer
separation between England and Wales in policy development
and implementation? |
| If there were a clearer separation between England
and Wales in policy development and implementation there
would be a gain in being able to compare the success or
failure of different policy initiatives between nations.
Provided that Wales does not always take the inferior
policy option, on balance there should be a nett policy
improvement over time. |
| THE FINANCIAL CONTEXT |
| How should we evaluate the costs and benefits of moving
to a different form of devolution in Wales? |
| If devolution is to be a success in Wales the people
of Wales must see a benefit in the economic and social
well being of themselves and their families that they
can easily attribute to the National Assembly for Wales.
If the National Assembly cannot develop to a stage where
the people of Wales are aware and proud of its real achievements
then there is no purpose in changing the form of devolution.
All changes to the devolution settlement must be assessed
on how they materially benefit the individuals of Wales. |
| What are the benefits that should be included in this
evaluation - and what values should be attached to them? |
| The benefits that should be measured are: |
| Economic well-being |
| Social justice |
| Transparency of governance |
| For any queries relating to this response please
contact |
Karen Wilkie
National Organiser, Wales & Local Government
The Co-operative Party
Transport House
1 Cathedral Road
Cardiff
CF11 9HA
tel. 029 2022 6454
fax. 029 2066 7254 |
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