Powers
The Commission is right to focus on the practical implications
of the Assembly’s powers and any proposed changes
to them. Philosophical deliberations around appropriate
degrees of self-government as an assertion of national
identity cannot be resolved by this review.
The National Assembly for Wales was created by a Labour
Government to reflect and give expression to the geographic
and cultural integrity of Wales as a nation within the
United Kingdom, and in doing so to strengthen democracy
and deliver better government. Having achieved this
level of self-government through the creation of the
National Assembly, the question of additional powers
is for me primarily a pragmatic one: does the Assembly
have the necessary powers to meet the needs of the Welsh
people, within the framework of a strong and cohesive
United Kingdom?
So far, the Assembly has made good progress in addressing
the needs of Wales. As the Assembly’s policies
and strategies are followed through, more progress will
be made in tackling the central challenges facing the
politicians and policy-makers – how to strengthen
the Welsh economy; how to improve the health of the
Welsh people; and how to lift families and communities
out of deprivation. Many of the right strategies are
now in place. If these strategies are effectively implemented,
and if the current level of public investment is maintained,
we will see significant improvements across the policy
areas for which the Assembly is responsible.
Primary powers are not a panacea for transforming Wales’s
fortunes. The argument that we cannot make real progress
in tackling the big social and economic problems without
transferring primary powers to the Assembly does not
stand up to scrutiny. The Assembly already has the tools
– in areas like health, education, skills and training,
- to make a real difference. Acquiring primary powers
in these fields would not dramatically alter the Assembly
Government’s ability to achieve its objectives.
There is much more that can be achieved within the
scope of the current powers before we can reasonably
conclude, on practical policy grounds, that primary
powers need to be transferred.
However, the effectiveness of the current arrangements
is, to a large extent, contingent upon the existence
of a government at Westminster that supports devolution
and broadly shares the political and policy objectives
of the Assembly Government. If a government was elected
to Westminster that did not support devolution, and
if that government pursued policies directly at odds
with those pursued by the Assembly Government, serious
problems could arise. This seems to me to be the most
persuasive case for the transfer of primary powers to
the Assembly: as a means of protecting and safeguarding
the democratic powers of the Assembly against the possibility
of a hostile government at Westminster. Possible ways
of strengthening the existing devolution settlement
need to be explored, which could provide the necessary
safeguards to the Assembly without necessarily resorting
to the transfer of primary powers.
The transfer of primary powers to the Assembly would
require an increase in Assembly Members and a significant
increase in Assembly staff, both of which would be necessary
to deal with the additional workload of handling primary
legislation. It would be difficult to justify such an
increase in the number of AMs without a parallel reduction
in the number of MPs. Neither outcome would be desirable
at the current time. Wales is already over-governed,
and to increase further the number of politicians in
the Assembly at a time when politicians in general are
held in low esteem would only generate more antipathy
amongst an already sceptical Welsh public.
The arguments in favour of the transfer of primary
powers would need to be compelling in order to justify
such a major constitutional change. Such a case has
not been made. The Assembly is making good progress
in addressing Wales’s needs. It should be given
time to pursue its objectives, to produce results and
to establish itself within the hearts and minds of the
Welsh people. The process of devolution will continue,
but now is not the time for drastic change.
Ends
1 July 2003
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