24th April 2009
By Paul Dicken
Primary legislative powers for the Welsh Assembly Government would allow it to improve co-ordination of public health, transport and environmental policy, a think-tank has said.
A report from the Institute of Welsh Affairs said the current arrangements – of drawing down powers on a piecemeal basis from Westminster – ‘militate against the development of a strategic approach to legislation’.
IWA director John Osmond told Public Finance that legislative plans had to pass through so many hoops at present that the process wasn’t really being used.
‘Theoretically, the Assembly Government can attempt to legislate on whatever it likes, but it has to get agreement from Westminster. In practice that means it does so only in very small, piecemeal steps,’ Osmond said.
The devolution settlement had failed to create greater democracy in Wales as most legislation was coming straight from Westminster to the Assembly Government with little debate.
Putting Wales in the driving seat, published on 20 April, was commissioned by the All Wales Convention, set up to gauge opinion and encourage debate on further devolution.
