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'Time to take over the remote control': a 1997 campaign poster which is as true today as it was then

HOWEVER much people are currently disillusioned with politics, an effective system of government is a must if society’s needs are to be met. Not that effective government can sort out everything out, of course. Creative policy development, active citizens and a widespread commitment to the democratic process are among the other necessary components.

Tomorrow’s Wales believes that the current constitutional arrangements for Wales do not provide a basis for effective government and therefore do little to encourage the other components listed above.

Not all policy developments require new primary legislation and much has been achieved in the first decade of democratic devolution through the use of secondary legislation and executive decision. However, what can be achieved in this way is strictly limited. That is why, following the recommendation of the Richard Commission (2004) that the National Assembly should become a proper parliament on the Scottish model, the Westminster Labour Government passed the Government of Wales Act 2006. Part three of that Act is currently in force and allows the Assembly to pass primary legislation (called Assembly Measures) – after the UK parliament has agreed to transfer the power to do so.

Many argued that this would set up a creative process which would strengthen the Assembly’s powers over time and enable the development of a policy agenda appropriate for Welsh needs. Tomorrow’s Wales certainly hoped that the system would work well and produced its Guide to the New National Assembly to this end. However, it is now abundantly clear that the Part three mechanisms are fraught with difficulties.

The 1979 Yes campaign logo

The power to pass laws can be conferred on the Assembly in two ways. The first is through Acts of Parliament giving the Assembly ‘framework’ powers within the scope of those particular acts. This is useful enough and the list of powers transferred is lengthy, but they reflect Westminster’s policy priorities at any particular time, not the Assembly Government’s. The other route is through Legislative Competence Orders (LCOs). The process of obtaining the power for the Welsh Assembly Government to legislate through this method can be simplified – yes, simplified – as follows:

Only when this process has been navigated – typically over a two or three-year period – can the Assembly get down to legislating, which is itself a lengthy process.

The 1997 Yes campaign logo

The major investment of time and resources in all of this is obvious. Even an entirely non-contentious item like the Red Meat LCO took all of two years. More serious perhaps is the difficulty experienced by WAG, the Assembly itself and individual members in actually getting the powers they need for the implementation of policy. Welsh legislation flowing from several LCOs may well not be enacted before the end of the current Assembly’s term.

While this may sound overly legalistic, the barriers listed above prevent the National Assembly from improving the lives of the people of Wales and mean that in some cases too much time is spent asking for the powers to legislate in the areas that matter to them before the National Assembly can actually get down to making laws that respond to the popular will. Take the environment, for example. There has been strong condemnation by the House of Lords Constitution Committee of the Environment LCO in the Committee’s report published in October. Because of the considerable provisoes to its provisions which have been insisted upon by central government, it is virtually incomprehensible and the Committee is drawing the special attention of the House of Lords to it. It looks as if it will have to be completely rewritten, which means that it has been in draft form since June of 2007. That is over two years of time that could have been spent shaping legislative proposals on issues around improving local environmental quality, increasing recycling and improving waste management, as well as strengthening pollution controls.

Equally, the draft Mental Health LCO which has recently been revised is also taking a long time to become law, having been in the system for over a year. Once more we have an example of time being spent asking for powers before the National Assembly gets the chance to frame legislation that would in this case increase the rights of mental health patients in Wales.

If all this seems problematic, imagine the tensions and frustrations when opposing political parties form governments in Westminster and Cardiff Bay. As well as being a barrier to participation in the democratic process by people in general, who have great difficulty in understanding who decides what, where and when, the opaqueness and complexity of the process is a serious obstacle to civil society in its efforts to influence policy decisions.

On top of this the opaqueness and complexity of the process is a serious obstacle to civil society organisations wanting to influence the decision-making process, and to participation in the democratic process by people in general, who have great difficulty in understanding who decides what, where and when.

The report of the All-Wales Convention, set up by the One Wales Government, will be published today and will probably recommend the bringing into force of Part four of the Government of Wales Act 2006. This would in effect convert the National Assembly into what we might reasonably call a ‘proper parliament’ by granting it primary law-making powers in the 20 policy fields for which it has responsibility. The way will then be clear for a referendum which the One Wales Government is committed to holding in time for the 2011-2015 Assembly.

Tomorrow’s Wales will support a Yes vote in that referendum and intends to expand its activity to prepare the ground for the Yes Campaign itself. A key instrument in that will be gathering support for our Declaration for Welsh Democracy, set out below.

Readers wishing to register their support, learn more, join TW or assist in any way can do so by visiting our website.

A DECLARATION FOR WELSH DEMOCRACY
We the undersigned believe that the creation of a system of effective democratic governance for Wales is a matter of major importance.
Such a system should

We believe that this would best be achieved by the granting of primary law-making powers to the National Assembly, and we call for the holding of a referendum to that end.