| To Rt Hon Lord Richard, Chairman
Richard Commission |
| 15 February '03 |
| Dear Chairman |
| Powers of the National Assembly
for Wales |
| Below are some brief, strictly
personal and non party political observations on aspects
of the current workings of the NAW that concern me and
which your Commission may wish to consider. |
| 1. Absence of Written
Record of Proceedings |
| The availability of a record on the internet
only is a severe handicap to those interested in close
study of the proceedings and in identifying and evaluating
the views expressed, not only in plenary sessions but
in Assembly Committees. This is a cause of complaint not
only by members of both Houses of the Westminster Parliament
but by local government, health authorities and other
bodies seeking the Assembly's views. The absence of a
printed record of NAW proceedings contrasts with the ready
availability of such records for the Scottish Parliament
and the Northern Ireland Assembly. |
| The adverse repercussions are
probably extensive; people do not know what is going on.
I am mainly concerned with the consequences outside the
Assembly precincts in Cardiff Bay and particularly at
Westminster where Assembly debates are seldom quoted or
referred to. Ignorance of the proceedings is widespread. |
| Such primary legislative proposals
as are brought before Parliament are assumed to have the
full endorsement of the Assembly. Dissident voices are
not heard. So far, such legislative proposals have been
largely noncontroversial but this may not always be the
case. Circumstances may arise in future where Parliament
may wish to study the arguments within the Assembly more
closely in which case, a verbatim record will be essential. |
| 2. Legislative powers |
| The current system is imperfect
but is being developed. It works largely because primary
legislation relating to Wales allows considerable scope
and latitude for secondary legislation by the Assembly
through Henry VI 11 and widely drawn clauses. The major
drawback is, arguably, that many issues that could be
decided in primary legislation are unnecessarily postponed
for further consideration and decision by the Assembly.
Thus the legislative process is unduly extended. An occasion
when legislation for Wales is urgently needed and has
to be rushed through Parliament has not yet occurred but
Parliament has proved its ability to cope with such demands
time and again in the case of Northern Ireland. The case
for devolution of primary legislative powers to the National
Assembly has not been proved by experience to be necessary.
Whether it is desirable, feasible and advisable is for
the political parties to consider. Further devolution
of this kind would over time lead to greater "differences"
between Wales and other parts of the U.K. The availability
of resources to implement legislation is crucial in this
context. Central government may not necessarily finance
initiatives that create differences favourable to Wales
but involving additional costs to the Exchequer. |
| 3. Taxation powers |
| It can be argued that no representative
political body should be without some taxation power(s).
The Scottish Parliament has such a limited power which
was the subject of a referendum question and an affirmative
response. The referendum question in Scotland set a sound
precedent, which cannot be ignored. |
| If the Commission were to recommend that
the National Assembly be given taxation power, it should
be subject to approval by referendum. Such approval is
unlikely to be obtained while Welsh G.D.P. remains at
its present comparatively low level. |
| A new power to tax would represent
a major constitutional change. Other indirect means are
already available to the Assembly to increase the totality
of its revenue. |