RICHARD COMMISSION RECOMMENDS

FURTHER DEVOLUTION TO WALES BY 2011

More powers for the Assembly, twenty extra Members and a new electoral system have been recommended by the Richard Commission, which published its report today (31 March 2004).

The report highlights the extent to which the relationship between the Assembly and Westminster has evolved over the last five years, and that this continues a process of devolution that began nearly a century ago. It recommends that:

there should be a legislative Assembly for Wales, with powers to pass primary legislation in the policy areas in which it took on powers in 1999;

in the interim, broad framework powers should be delegated to the Assembly, within the Government of Wales Act provisions, allowing the maximum scope for the Assembly Government to exercise its secondary legislative powers to deliver its policies;

if a legislative Assembly is constituted, it is desirable, though not essential, to confer tax-varying powers;

to exercise primary powers, the Assembly needs an increase in membership to 80 Members;

the structure of the Assembly should be reconstituted with a separate legislature and executive;

the present system of electing Assembly Members cannot sustain an increase to 80 – the best alternative is the Single Transferable Vote system;

these changes should be in place by 2011 or sooner if practicable.

Presenting the Commission’s report to Assembly First Minister Rhodri Morgan in Cardiff, the Chair Lord Richard said: "It has been a great privilege to undertake such an important task. We approached our work with an open mind, focusing on the evidence from practical experience of how the arrangements are working at the moment and how things could be improved in the interests of the people of Wales.

"This has been a very thorough and wide-ranging review, taking evidence across Wales from people in the Assembly, those who work with them on a daily basis and from ordinary people in Wales."

Speaking about the report’s conclusions, Lord Richard said: "The present arrangements have been a success in many ways, and our proposals build upon the[considerable/ growing and maturing] experience gained since the Assembly was set up in 1999.

"We [unanimous]unanimously / [which has been agreed by all of us] concluded that the Assembly needs more powers in order to address Wales’s needs and priorities most effectively and to be clearly directly accountable to the people of Wales. We believe that these changes will also play a crucial part in strengthening public engagement with the Assembly.

"Our analysis shows that greater powers would be an evolution of the present situation where the Assembly Government is, in practice, increasingly setting the legislative agenda for Wales, and then relying on the Westminster Parliament to scrutinise and finally approve the proposals. With distinctive policies for Wales, we think it would be more straightforward and efficient for the entire process to be carried out by the elected Assembly. But practical experience suggests that there will still need to be a significant programme of England and Wales legislation at Westminster – so the partnership with Whitehall and Westminster will continue to be vital.

"These We recognise that additional powers would carry significant extra work which would have implications for the size and cost of the Assembly, and the way in which its Members are elected. We have set these out in full in our report, and we hope that people will look carefully at our arguments in making up their own minds.

"I am delighted to present the Commission’s report to the Welsh Assembly Government, which will now be responsible for taking forward the debate on developing devolution in Wales, within the Assembly itself and across Wales."

Notes

The independent Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales ("the Richard Commission") was established by the Welsh Assembly Government in July 2002, its terms of reference having been approved by the Assembly on 20 June 2002.
The attached summary report sets out the Commission’s main findings and recommendations.
The Commission’s membership is also set out in the summary report.
The full report is available on the Richard Commission’s website at www.richardcommission.gov.uk. Paper copies are available from the Commission’s Secretariat (telephone 029 2034 4274).
The evidence presented to the Commission is also available on its website and will be published separately as soon as practicable.

31 March 2004