Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales

1st Public Meeting held at Swansea Guildhall Wednesday 15th January

Record of Written Questions and Opinions

In order to maintain our independent role we answer the questions posed by huge charitable organisations well funded. Give the new Assembly additional legislative powers".

Gordon Carruthers
Chairman, Wales Pensioners

The regional top up seats are not identified with by the electorate, and this means that local casework tends to go to the AMs elected in the parliamentary constituencies. It also means that the AMs elected on a regional basis are more able to pick and choose issues to campaign on. The 2 ballot papers provided also unnecessarily complicate the election. The current method also allows candidates to have 2 bites of the cherry, by appearing in the ballot for a constituency first past the post election, and then if rejected by those voters, appearing on a parties regional list for top up seats.

An alternative could be to elect on constituencies co-terminus with Unitary Authorities. This would give a geographic constituency which most of the electorate would identify with. The division of the 60 AMs between the LA regions would be on the basis of population, with some weighting due to land area, and perhaps other factors.

AMs should be elected through one ballot, by single transferable vote. This may be by party or by individual candidate. This would give each AM the same electoral legitimacy. It would improve the principle of PR brought in for the Assembly elections, as it is easier to understand, and not be felt to be imposed by bureaucracy after the election.

It would also benefit Unitary Authorities to have the same form of elections, so that AMs and councillors would have a better idea of the pressures each faced, and the necessity of dealing with elected members of other parties."

Councillor Mark Child

The reason why we ask this question is as follows…..

It is extraordinary that because of a Home Office Initiative "TETRA Emergency Service network for Police" that three years down the line when Home Office funding ends that the exorbitant cost of running this service in Wales will mean an increase to council tax payers of approximately 700%. If we had fully devolved powers – we would have had the opportunity to have looked at not only a SAFER but a more efficient and cost effective system.

In this instance we have no other option than to accept a seriously flawed network that is going to be detrimental to the health of both user and the public".

Greater powers should be devolved to the National Assembly, including tax varying powers. To cope with the additional work involved, the number of Assembly Members should be increased to 80 initially. An increased proportion of the AM'’ should be elected via Proportional Representation to reflect better the range of political views espoused by the people of Wales. More AM’s needed to undertake scrutiny of legislative proposals. More powers needed to overcome current blocks and anomalies and possible future "neutering" of the Assembly by a Westminster government of a different political persuasion to that in Cardiff".

"ASSEMBLY ADMINISTRATION.

National Assembly members’ salary pegged at May 2002 levels for period of next Assembly [4 years]

Abolish the title of First Minister, the elected leader of the majority Party/Grouping will be known as Facilitator Cymru…Cydlynydd Wales.

The cabinet will consist of no more than 5 members ie. 1/12^th of elected members. Cabinet posts will be referred to as Secretary of Economic Development etc.

Only candidates who are on the electoral register in Wales will be allowed to contest seats.

Assembly Members to ‘learn’ Welsh within 15 months of their election to an acceptable level.

Wales must seek to provide a true NHS service, more in keeping with the aspirations of Nye Bevan. It will not, of necessity, be a National Ill- Health service, but will concentrate very heavily on clearing patients needing ‘in-patient’ operations etc., and provide meaningful guidance towards preventative and health educational messages.

Environmental Health issues must be tackled head on. It is accepted that Public Inquiry situations are extremely costly, and a drain on other resources, therefore the Assembly must through ‘other’ consultation methods seek to resolve these issues, by positive decision-making.

The Assembly should petition the UK Government for greater return of the tax revenues of tobacco and alcohol products, which are collected in Wales, into the Assembly budget from Central Government allocated funds. These must be ring-fenced for NHS Capital projects in Wales

As a priority should seek to renegotiate the ‘Barnett’ Formula to take into account the implications of Social Exclusion/Inclusion, on the population of Wales, and seek ‘fairer’ funding on a needs basis.

Should propose that National Insurance Contributions [in Wales] be increased by say 2p per week, the funds collected to again be ring-fenced to meet the Revenue needs of the NHS in Wales.

Additional funding to our teaching hospitals and grants to young people to give prospects to them to remain in the NHS in Wales, should be a priority.

A system of monitoring the performance of the NHS in Wales to be established probably linked to a strengthened VFM unit within the District Audit in Wales.

Dignified Care of the Elderly, and Health Promotion should feature highly in policy decisions. The NHS in Wales is not to be perceived as an Ill Health Service.

Greater co-ordination between the 22 Local Authorities in Wales

Cost saving reductions in reducing elected membership of Local Authorities

Savings by way of ‘grouping’ senior staff at LA’s

Positive liaison between the Social Services of LA’s and Health Authorities

Greater emphasis on active Health Alliances

LA’s to consider sustainable funding for Healthy Living Centres

Local Health Groups and LA’s to meet regularly under the Health Alliances

Co-ordination of Environmental Health issues

LEA’s to become more pro-active on health issues

The preservation and expansion of the role of CHC’s in Wales

The possible linking of an all Wales governing body for HLC’s

Enhanced funding to the Police

Traffic accidents are costly to the NHS

South West Wales, incorporating the Counties/County Boroughs of;

Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot, and Bridgend

South East Wales, incorporating; Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Newport and Monmouthshire

Mid Wales & the Valleys, incorporating; Rhondda Cynon Tâf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerffili, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Powys & Ceredigion

North Wales incorporating: Gwynedd, Ynys Môn, Conway, Clwyd, Wrexham and Flint.

All plans to erect a prestigious debating chamber [talking shop] are abandoned, uncommitted funds channelled immediately into NHS resources;

Primarily:

A new All Wales Orthopaedic Hospital to be built in Brecon

Swift progress on an All Wales Children’s Hospital [possibly Swansea], appreciating plans for Cardiff are well advanced

1. I would like to see the power of the Assembly increased re Primary Legislation;
2. An all elected chamber;
3. Would like to see Assembly take the initiative in encouraging members from Black and Ethnic Minorities to be involved in the political process;
4. FUNDING – I am currently employed as a Family Court Adviser with CAFLASS – Public and Private law. Our work in public law is hindered due to lack of resources for Social Services Dept in Child Protection cases".

"Apart from the above question, I am strongly in favour of a Parliament for Wales on the same basis as Scotland. To deny Wales this right based on fear and prejudice and vested interest, is not only unjust but is absurd, considering that both Scotland and Northern Ireland have much greater powers than the Assembly. Further the Assembly will never succeed if it’s not given more power.

Councillor Keith Morgan

The exact choice of words is left to the discretion of the members of your committee, but I have enclosed my choices:

‘NO’ VOTE FOR ASSEMBLY or NONE OF THE ABOVE.

One positive consequence of this gesture would be to increase the numbers of voters who will take the trouble to at least turn up at the polling stations on the 1^st May 2003.

Finally, it wouldn’t add significantly to the overall cost to stage these elections, but the results obtained would be more reliable than those gained from the numerous opinion polls being carried out at the present time".

1. It is a contradictory situation for Scotland to have a Parliament (which has the powers to legislate, using primary legislative powers, and, the powers to vary taxes) and Wales with none of these powers.
2. It has been said, and given in evidence, that there is confusion as to what exactly are the National Assembly’s powers: where do they end and where do Westminster’s powers begin.
3. Looking abroad, our Assembly has less powers that the German Laender, the Australian states, the states that make up the United States of America and other developed countries. We can include Spain and Italy and other nations with a federal or quasi – federal system of government.

   I wouldn’t be put off by the excuses that there are more important things to do such as dealing with the economy, the NHS, education or pensions. This is merely diversionary and is used by people who oppose devolution and constitutional reform out of vested interests.

   It is worthwhile to recall that two of the most vibrant and successful democracies in Europe drafted their federal constitutions in far worse situations – immediately after the end of World War 2 – the Federal Republic of Germany and, Italy. They didn’t use the excuse of the economic and social crisis of the post war months and years, nor the growing cold war between East and West. Indeed they probably thought it vitally important to draft constitutions which protected the rights of the citizens and constrained the powers of government. The probably grew to know that dictatorships usually ran inefficient economies, and so these provisions were needed to stop the squandering of wealth. We can also think of other nations who drafted constitutions against a backdrop of war or economic problems, such as Japan, South Africa and so on.

4. We are also regarded as an inferior body because of our number of AMs – we have 60 but Northern Ireland with around half the population of Wales has almost double our number – 110. This gives the impression that the Northern Ireland Assembly is a more serious body requiring extra members.
5. Indeed, the National Assembly for Wales could be seen as a derisory body due to its lack of powers and number of AMs. It gives the image of Wales and its people as not being a "serious" nation, that we as a people cannot exercise such powers because we lack the aptitudes. When I say this I am mindful of the fact that Wales’ population is mad up of around 25% who have moved in from other countries. I believe that this reinforces prejudices from other nations about the Welsh, as well as inferiority complexes amongst the Welsh themselves.
6. Despite its limited powers, the National Assembly hasn’t fallen flat on its face! As some predicted it would! It has shown that we can manage ourselves!
7. We must ensure that the powers of local government will be democratised and not be "sucked up". This could be a case where a more powerful National Assembly could legislated for Proportional Representation in local government and make this tier of government more representative of the people and more relevant to them.
8. With law making and tax powers, I believe that people in Wales will take the body more seriously, elections turn out will be higher, decision made quicker (we won’t have to have Westminster’s approval, which will take time and have to be scheduled in the government’s timetable. It could also be sabotaged by MPs hostile to devolution acting out of self – interest and not the common good), and government brought closer to the people.

For these reasons, I would request that you recommend in favour of more powers for the National Assembly for Wales with full law making and taxation powers.

I urge you not to accept any half way house with law making powers but no taxation powers, or, vice versa, as this would be seen as unnecessary and confusing. It could also be used as a stalling device.

Thank you for your kind consideration of my opinions.

However at this stage I would not support tax varying powers as I believe there is still a public credibility gap for the Assembly to bridge and it is too early to consider tax varying powers. The issue of methods of taxation, devolution & local authority taxation (including national non domestic rates etc.) will have to be considered overall for the UK in the near future in any case and should be done within that context. The Assembly, to its credit, has used its control of the available funding to re-direct funds in a manner which better suits the needs of the people of Wales and has made a difference as a result. There is still scope within the existing funding framework for that to be developed further.

There are insufficient members to develop policies & act as a primary legislative body and to do so the Assembly must become a Parliamentary body with Constituency based Assembly members only. I believe that the regional "list" system has blurred accountability and has led to a strengthening of "machine" politics. I would support a Parliamentary Constituency based system with 2 Assembly members per Constituency. Accountability is clear and people understand such geographically based representation well. Such a system would also be more likely to improve representation from currently under represented groups. The Political Parties would cope well with such a system and it would be less prone to centralised machine politics. The Assembly is seen as and acts in a Parliamentary way now in any case. The Assembly should consider revising its structures to reduce the unnecessary confrontation and introduce means of adequate scrutiny of the Executive. Local Government has some good practice which may provide some guidance."

Councillor Dereck Roberts

That all levels of elected government should provide overlapping but often different checks and balances, eg. The Westminster Government – first past the post as it is/should be primarily concerned with political beliefs and principles.

The Assembly should similarly be first past the post but with one woman and one man representing each constituency.

This would overcome the male dominated political culture and would retain the vitally important success of twinning".

I believe that the powers allotted to the Assembly should be equivalent to those enjoyed by the Scottish Parliament. The Government of Wales Act was drastically amended and there is no clear definition of powers. The whole point of a devolved institution was that it should be able to act decisively on matters pertaining to Wales. The people of Wales still lack any real political control over matters that are important to our country. There is a perception by critics of devolution and some sections of the media that it is a "talking shop". A fully empowered Parliament – with clearly defined, adequate legislative powers would engender a more positive attitude. The increasing divergence of the Welsh and English economies make it a necessity that we have decisive control of our political affairs""

Ian Seaton
Bricklayer

The partial proportional representation system in existence is sufficiently representative. There is no need for more AMs. We (taxpayers) already pay for 60 – no more please!"

Mr Jonathan Piers Gage Walters

To get a deal for the setting up of the Welsh Assembly, Ron Davies did a deal with the Unitary Authorities to leave them immune from any control, and without an "Ombudsman Committee" answerable to "someone" the system is corrupt".