In its 1997 White Paper, A Voice for Wales, the Labour Government argued that the Assembly would be more democratically accountable than the Welsh Office. For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the UK cabinet by a Secretary of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster.Evidence to Richards Commission of Cllr Russell Goodway. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2006.

On March 1st 2006 (St. David's Day) the new Assembly building in Cardiff Bay was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen.

Powers and status

The Assembly is run by the Welsh Assembly Government, led by First Minister, Rhodri Morgan.National Assembly for Wales, Organization Cabinet Members, Welsh Assembly

The executive and civil servants are based in Cardiff's Cathays Park while the Assembly Members, the Assembly Parliamentary Service and Ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay where a new £67 million Assembly Building, known as the Senedd, has recently been built.National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Assembly Government in Guide to government: Devolved and local government, Directgov, UK state website. Retrieved 13 July 2006.Assembly Building: Welsh government website. Retrieved 13 July 2006. New assembly building opens doors: BBC News, 1 March 2006. Retrieved 13 July 2006.

One important feature of the National Assembly is that there is no legal or constitutional separation of the legislative and executive functions, since it is a single corporate entity. Even compared with other parliamentary systems, and other UK devolved countries, this is highly unusual. In reality however there is some sort of day to day separation, and the terms "Assembly Government" and "Assembly Parliamentary Service" have been used to distinguish between the two arms. It is proposed to regularise the separation, and it is considered likely that the UK Parliament will pass the necessary legislation. Although the Assembly is a legislature, it currently does not have primary legislative or fiscal powers, as these powers had been reserved by Westminster. However, the position is set to change with the passing of the Government of Wales bill in 2006. The current legislative powers of the Assembly are therefore more limited than most other sub-sovereign state legislatures, such as the Scottish Parliament in the UK or state legislatures in the United States.

The Assembly does have powers to pass secondary legislation in devolved areas. Sometimes secondary legislation can be used to amend primary legislation, however the scope of this up to now has been very limited; for example, the Government of Wales Act gave the Assembly power to amend primary legislation relating to the merger of certain public bodies.

It is important to note that most secondary powers were conferred on the executive by primary legislation to give the executive, (i.e. Ministers) more powers. By inheriting these powers from ministers, the Assembly has sometimes surprisingly wider legislative powers than appearances would suggest.

For example:

The Assembly delayed local elections due to be held in 2003 for a year by use of secondary powers, so that they would not correspond with Assembly elections. (In 2001 the UK parliament used primary legislation to delay for one month local elections in England during the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic).

Whilst in theory the Assembly has no tax varying powers, the Assembly in reality has some very limited power over taxes. For example, in Wales, as in England, the rate of Council Tax is set by local authorities, however since the Assembly largely determines the level of grants to local councils, it can influence the level of local taxation indirectly.

In terms of charges for government services it also has some discretion. Notable examples where this discretion has been used and varies significantly to other areas in the UK include:- 1. Charges for NHS prescriptions in Wales - these are now considerably less than elsewhere in the UK. 2. Charges for University Tuition - are different for Welsh resident students studying at Welsh Universities, compared with students from or studying elsewhere in the UK. 3. Charging for Residential Care- In Wales there is a flat rate of contribution towards the cost of nursing care, (roughly comparable to the highest level of English Contribution) for those who require residential care. This means in reality there is a wider definition of "nursing care" than in England and therefore less dependence on means testing in Wales than in England, meaning that more people are entitled to higher levels of state assistance.

These variations in the levels of charges, could also be construed to be de facto tax varying powers.

This model of more limited legislative powers is partly because Wales has had the same legal system as England since 1536, when it was annexed by England. Ireland and Scotland were never annexed by England, and so always retained some distinct differences in their legal systems. The Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly, (when it isn't suspended) have deeper and wider powers.

The Assembly inherited the powers and budget of the Secretary of State for Wales and most of the functions of the Welsh Office. It has power to vary laws passed by Westminster using secondary legislation. Peter Hain, whose principal UK cabinet role is as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and who represents a Welsh constituency in the Westminster Parliament, retains a vestigial role as Secretary of State for Wales.

Richard Commission