| Re: Public Meeting in Llandrindod Wells 8th May 2003
As a Liberal Democrat Councillor on Powys County Council
I am pleased to have an opportunity to comment on the
questions raised by the Commission. I was unhappy at
the response made by Powys County Council both in terms
of its content and the manner in which it was produced,
essentially by a small group of Board members and then
put to the Council in the day of its Budget debate when
there was insufficient time for full consideration.
I attach a question which I would like to raise on
Thursday.
My comments, which follow the pattern of the papers
which you have sent, are as follows:
Practical approach
Generally I feel that the Assembly is working for the
benefit of the people of Rhayader, Cwmdeuddwr and the
Elan Valley, the division which I represent, as well
as the people of Powys, subject to limitations which
will emerge in my further responses. Health and Education
are close to people’s hearts and I can see that
the Assembly has made an effort to provide additional
funding for these areas although due to the squeeze
put on state education and health provision particularly
under Conservative Governments it is a large task to
turn things round. I can see that within the limits
imposed by the devolution legislation innovative ideas
such as the reconstruction of the health service in
Wales and in the easing of teacher’s work lives
and the baccalaureate experiments there is a real focus
on people’s needs for the future.
Government of Wales Act
I do not believe that the Act provides the Assembly
with sufficient powers. It is far too detailed and restrictive.
There needs to be a widening of powers to include primary
legislation and tax raising powers.
Structure and Working Arrangements
I would hope that the Assembly would not have to become
more like the Parliamentary model with its yah boo politics
and confrontational type chamber layout. It is a shame
that some politicians in the Assembly behave as if they
were at Westminster. We want a government which looks
and behaves as if it is really working together for
the benefit of all people in Wales.
Relationship with Parliament
I am not sure that the Assembly has been greatly effective
in influencing UK Government policy which is more due
to the nature of the current regime at Westminster than
the ability displayed at the Assembly. The Foot &
Mouth disease crisis is a prime example of this in that
there was clearly a lack of knowledge on farming matters
being displayed in Westminster and an equal lack of
willingness to listen to voices in the WAG as to how
rural areas should be treated.
I think that the Assembly has been hampered by the
straitjacket placed on it by the devolution Act.
Advantages and disadvantages of shared law making
My impression is that there is not much in the way
of liaison between AM, MP and Peer except within the
party structures. This has certainly been of great advantage
within the Liberal Democrat Party. A good illustration
of this is to look at the EDM’s signed by Roger
Williams, MP for Brecon and Radnor, many of which are
very much in tune with WAG thinking.
Primary Legislation passed to WAG.
The advantages would be that we could have laws which
would be much more suited to the people of Wales. We
tend to be more egalitarian in outlook, closer, perhaps,
to the French ideal of equality. There is definitely
more emphasis on health, welfare of the elderly and
state education in Wales which stems partially from
the fact that we are a relatively poor part of the UK
with a population more dependent on state supplied services.
A disadvantage could be that too much emphasis would
be placed on urban Wales with the Assembly being in
Cardiff. Having said that there is clearly much more
interest in Cardiff in Welsh affairs than in Westminster.
Reduction of role of MPs
This would depend on the extent of the primary law
making powers. If defence, social security matters etc
are still to be dictated by Westminster we would still
need to have strong representation by Welsh MPs and
by the Secretary of State.
Relations between WAG and Westminster
We would gain much from having more authority in Wales.
Again, the F & M crisis is an example of a major
situation in which the civil servants and politicians
in Whitehall had little understanding of the specific
needs of, in particular, upland Wales.
Finance
The current costs could be looked at and means found
of transferring these to Wales. There is a danger in
retaining the cost basis in London of the Welsh Office
while creating further costs in the WAG.
Cost savings should arise by doing away with the current
split functions.
Electoral Arrangements
- I think that there should be a larger number of
members to spread the workload. Powys County Council
has 73 members and it covers only a quarter of the
area of Wales and a pretty sparsely populated area
at that.
- The AM’s I meet seem to be under a lot of pressure
- Up to 80.
- The ability for AM’s to get to know one another
better which, when used constructively, can be for
the benefit of Wales. I think this question is rather
slanted to the status quo. The advantages of a large
number are better representation and the ability to
spread the workload.
Electoral System
The present system seems to be reasonably successful
but it is ironic that it gives such good representation
to a party that did not want the Assembly in the first
place. Whilst, as a Liberal Democrat I feel disappointed
that the party that has fought for proportional representation
for so long does not have wider representation at the
Assembly I do have to accept, as a democrat, that the
results do seem to give a fairer representation of public
opinion in Wales than would a first past the post system.
Whatever I may feel about the Conservatives it really
would not be a fair reflection of their support in Wales
for them to have only one seat in the Assembly. The
challenge for other parties is to persuade the electorate
that their policies are really the best ones to vote
for.
I welcome the fact that it is more difficult for one
party to dominate and that there is a higher potential
for coalition government which must of necessity widen
government representation.
I do think that the regions are too large e.g. Mid
and West Wales but an increase in the numbers of AMS
would assist in creating smaller regions.
b) I feel uneasy about too much imposition of characteristics
of candidates. I believe that the parties are aware
of their responsibility to look to gender and ethnic
balance. This is certainly written into the selection
rules of my own party. The difficulty is in getting
women and people from ethnic minorities to put forward
their names to be prospective candidates.
Constituency Boundaries
I believe that it is very important to keep these as
the same for parliamentary and assembly elections. People
are confused enough as it is which might be a reason
for the seemingly large number of spoiled ballot papers
in the recent WAG elections.
Construction of larger Assembly
I think that the present system needs to be tried
for a number of elections before being reviewed.
Richard Tyler
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