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WRITTEN RESPONSE FROM DEAN FLOWERS
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| I believe that in essence the Richard Commission is
a waste of public money. Frankly there should not be any
investigation into giving the Assembly fiscal powers as
in Scotland or recommending the Assembly become a Parliament.
After the 1997 referendum the people of Wales were told
by those such as former Welsh Secretary P.Murphy that
devolution was "a done deal". Now after only one full
term of the institution it was felt that perhaps more
powers were needed. Why? The failure of the Assembly to
connect with the people of Wales, as seen with the turnout
in the May elections, was not because of any issues to
do with powers. I believe that it was the fact that the
assembly is still a new institution, Westminster and MPs
are widely regarded by many as the point of contact between
the electorate and government. Also, the assembly will
need a substantial period of stability- ie settling in
period, in order to gain the trust and interest of the
Welsh people. When I hear Politicians and Academics saying
that the assembly has failed due to its inability to actually
do anything I disagree. To me, the failure of the assembly
to make a real difference is nothing to do with the powers
or funding. Rather it is the inability and lack of progressive
thinking within the administration that is to blame for
the assemblies failure. After all, in Wales I believe
we do get a good deal from central Government, the Barnett
Formula provides good funding along with it must be said,
a good funding deal from the Government. |
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