Primary Legislative Process As It Affects Wales : Report

A key factor in the success of Welsh devolution will be the effectiveness of the legislative relationship between the UK Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. Westminster retains exclusive power to pass primary legislation for Wales and to grant the Assembly specific powers to make secondary legislation. The Committee's report reviews this relationship and assesses whether improvements could be made. Recommendations include: the need for greater consistency in the conferral of additional powers to the Assembly to aid scrutiny procedures, and that the Wales Office should provide funding for Wales Legislation Online, the only current comprehensive database on the powers of the National Assembly. To aid effective consultation, the Government should consult the Assembly on legislation in any of the devolved fields, even if the legislation has no direct impact on Assembly powers. The Committee states its intention to submit proposals for formal joint meetings between House of Commons Select Committees and those of the Assembly to explore how Assembly members can make their views formally known at Westminster on legislation that will directly affect Wales; and also recommends that the Government set out its position on the Rawlings Principles.

The proposed National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Local Government) Order 2009 is the twelfth Legislative Competence Order on which the Welsh Affairs Committee has reported. The Order will give the Assembly powers in respect of the structures and work of local government in Wales at all levels. The Welsh Assembly Government has requested this power because it wishes to develop and strengthen the role of community councils and councillors in Wales. The proposed Order will allow the Welsh Assembly Government to fulfil its commitment to seek legislation to address issues identified in the 2003 'Aberystwyth Report'. The Committee agrees that a clear need for the proposed LCO has been identified and is consistent with the Government's commitment to build up the capacity of town and community councils. The proposed Order is drafted in broad and accessible terms with the minimum of exceptions and interpretation. The Committee is concerned, however, that there are now many terms used to describe the various tiers of local government in Wales and agree with the suggestions put forward that the Minister should speedily undertake a review of terminology relating to local government. Specifically the term 'community' is cited as having various meanings dependent on context. Furthermore, given that there have already been several LCO proposals identified in terms of local government, to call this the National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Local Government) Order introduces the potential for confusion. A title such as 'National Assembly for Wale (Legislative Competence) (Community Councils) Order or similar is suggested

Law making is a primary function of government, and how well the three devolved UK legislatures exercise this function will be a crucial test of the whole devolution project. This book provides the first systematic study and authoritative data to start that assessment. It represents the fruits of a four-year collaboration between top constitutional lawyers from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and leading researchers in UCL's Constitution Unit. The book opens with detailed studies of law making in the period 1999–2004 in the Scottish Parliament and the Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, and how they interact with Westminster. Later contributions look at aspects of legislative partnership in the light of the UK's strongly asymmetric devolutionary development, and also explain the unexpected impact of devolution on the courts. Individual chapters focus on various constitutional aspects of law making, examining the interplay of continuity and change in political, legal and administrative practice, and the competing pressures for convergence and divergence between the different parliaments and assemblies. This book is essential reading for academics and students in law and in politics, and for anyone interested in the constitutional and legal aspects of UK devolution, not least the practitioners and policymakers in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

Work of the Committee 2008-09 : Third report of session 2009-10, report, together with formal Minutes