Request for Evidence from Welsh Assembly Government Ministers
Evidence in relation to the Powers of the National Assembly for Wales

I am writing to seek your assistance in preparing evidence for the first phase of the Commission’s work which will begin in the autumn. As you know we are in the process of appointing Members and are planning to start work in September. Thereafter we will need to make early progress in seeking evidence.

The Commission will agree its approach and work programme in September but it seems to me that the early evidence of Assembly Ministers will be crucial to an understanding of the practical implications of the ‘powers’ aspects of the Terms of Reference – a copy of which I attach. Accordingly I hope it will be helpful to send you now the questions which I believe the Commission will wish to pursue in relation to each Ministerial portfolio in the light of the experience of the first term.

I am anxious to pursue a practical approach which seeks to identify the way the Assembly Government has used the powers available to it and to examine the most relevant examples of where the powers may have been a constraint on the effective delivery of policies.

I therefore attach a paper which suggests a structure for written evidence from Ministers which could form the basis for the oral evidence sessions to which we will be inviting you in the autumn. Might I emphasise that this is intended as a guide not a straitjacket and the Commission would I feel sure welcome any analysis from their present (or previous) policy portfolios which Ministers might wish to offer in relation to the terms of reference.

I shall be writing to invite you to give evidence after the Commission’s first meeting in September but in the meantime the Secretariat has been in touch with your office to arrange a date for your oral evidence.

Annex 1

Structure for Assembly Government Written Evidence to the Richard Commission October/November 2002

Purpose of document

The terms of reference of the Commission (attached) comprise two distinct elements, relating to:

1. the sufficiency of the current powers of the National Assembly for Wales
2. the adequacy of the Assembly’s electoral arrangements.

This paper relates to the first item, on which the Commission will be gathering evidence in the first phase of its work from October 2002 to early 2003.

The Commission’s objective will be to build up a detailed picture of the practical implications of the distribution of powers between Westminster and Whitehall in respect of each policy portfolio.

The purpose of this paper is to set out the background information that the Commission is likely to request from Ministers of the Assembly Government in relation to each policy portfolio as the basis for oral evidence sessions with Ministers planned for November.

1. Please describe the range of issues covered within your Ministerial portfolio and include in that a summary description of the powers that you have available to implement new policies.

[This should include reference to powers derived from primary and secondary legislation (for example under the Transfer of Functions Order) as well as other mechanisms that you have used.]

2. Can you give examples of policy development using these powers in the Assembly’s first term.

[The aim is to identify the most important examples of change achieved by the Assembly Government in the first term. This will

• demonstrate how existing powers are being used and

• place legislative action in the context of other delivery levers available to the Assembly Government eg non statutory guidance, Strategy Documents, finance, Inspection regimes, moral authority through consensus building and the democratic mandate]

3. Can you give examples of policy aspirations where either the breadth or the depth of the Assembly’s powers have been a constraint?

[The most significant examples of policy aspirations where powers have been a constraint -either in themselves or in conjunction with other issues eg finance. The aim is to identify how relevant are legal powers to the delivery of Assembly Government objectives in relation to this particular policy portfolio.]

4. To what extent have you been able to promote those policy aspirations by influencing Westminster?

[The aim is to identify the most important examples of policy direction where primary legislation was needed and the practical implications of achieving this]

5. Have you been able to influence policy on non devolved matters which are relevant to your portfolio?

[The aim is to identify the most important areas where the Assembly Government has sought to influence UK or England and Wales policy- making and how effective this has been]

6. Are there areas of policy where responsibilities are divided between the Assembly and Whitehall in ways which have

[The aim is to identify the most important examples – if this has not been an issue in the policy area – please specify]. 

July 2002