A report by a committee of peers examined the increased complexities for the legislative process at Westminster deriving from the nature of the devolution settlement. It said that whenever Westminster legislated exclusively for Wales it was laying the partial foundations for Welsh law to become a distinct jurisdiction.
Source: Devolution: Its Effect on the Practice of Legislation at Westminster, Fifteenth Report (Session 2003-04), HL 192, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2004-Nov
Researchers said that the transition from administrative devolution to political devolution had been accomplished smoothly, without financial disruption. Political devolution had generated enormous improvements in process transparency . This contrasted sharply with the pre-devolution situation where the territorial mechanisms operated on the basis of unpublished block rules and had to be inferred and/or guessed at by observers.
Source: David Heald and Alasdair McLeod, The Financial Arrangements for Devolved Government within the United Kingdom, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Nov
The Labour Party in Wales published its response to the Richard Commission on the future of the Welsh Assembly. It promised that the Assembly would be given more powers to amend legislation: but it ruled out tax-raising powers for the Assembly and reducing the number of Welsh MPs at Westminster.
Source: Better Governance for Wales, Wales Labour Party (029 2087 7700)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2004-Aug
An independent commission said that there should be a primary legislative Assembly for Wales in place of the existing body; that in the meantime delegated powers to the Assembly should be expanded; that it would be desirable, but not essential, to confer tax-raising powers on the Assembly if a legislative Assembly were constituted; that the best alternative electoral system to sustain an increase in Assembly Members would be the single transferable vote system; and that the Assembly should be reconstituted as a separate legislature and executive.
Source: Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales, Report of the Richard Commission, Welsh Assembly Government (029 3089 8688)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | WAG press release | Welsh Office press release | ERS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A pamphlet by a minister in the Welsh Assembly Government said that Wales was in a 'uniquely weak position in relation to the rest of the UK' because of the Welsh Assembly's lack of powers. He called on the Labour Party in Wales to co-ordinate its efforts at all levels of government in order to bring about improvements in living standards and public services.
Source: Carwyn Jones, The Future of Welsh Labour, Institute of Welsh Affairs (029 2057 5511)
Links: ePolitix report
Date: 2004-Feb
A new book provided a progress report on the effect of devolution during the first terms of the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales.
Source: Alan Trench (ed.), Has Devolution Made a Difference?: The state of the nations 2004, Constitution Unit/University of London, available from Imprint Academic (01392 841600)
Links: Summary | Introduction (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jan
