An article said that the 'Barnett formula' (for determining public expenditure levels in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) ignored differences in prosperity and differences in need.
Source: R. Ross Mackay, 'Identifying need: devolved spending in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland', Contemporary Wales, Volume 18 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Nov
A new book examined the ways in which devolution was experienced and understood by citizens from the devolved regions of the United Kingdom.
Source: John Wilson and Karyn Stapleton, Devolution and Identity, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Nov
A survey found that public support in Wales for devolution had continued to increase, with a majority wanting devolution to be extended further.
Source: Wales - Poll Position: Public attitudes towards Assembly elections, Electoral Commission (020 7271 0500)
Links: Report | Electoral Commission press release
Date: 2006-Sep
An article examined the ways in which social policy was being used to recreate and reproduce a sense of nation and national identity in post-devolution Scotland and Wales. Devolution had important consequences for people's sense of Britishness, Scottishness, and Welshness - not least in relation to the ways in which social policies were presented and 'legitimated'.
Source: Gerry Mooney and Charlotte Williams, 'Forging new ways of life ? Social policy and nation building in devolved Scotland and Wales', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
An article said that devolution was central to an understanding of developments in social policy in the United Kingdom; and also that social policy was a key means to develop a critical understanding of the process of devolution itself. However, the discussion of devolution had largely focused on institutional and/or organizational differences - marginalizing the wider social relations of welfare around which social policy was organized.
Source: Gerry Mooney, Gill Scott and Charlotte Williams, 'Rethinking social policy through devolution', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
The Welsh Assembly Government published its annual report for 2005-06. It said that it was on course to deliver most of its major promises. It identified a reduction in National Health Service waiting lists as among its major achievements over the previous year.
Source: First Minister?s Report 2006, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
The Government of Wales Act 2006 was given Royal assent. The Act gave the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Act also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Act 2006, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Act | Explanatory notes to Bill | HOC Library research paper | BBC report
Date: 2006-Jul
An article said that the establishment in 2002 of the independent Richard Commission had enhanced civic and public debate on the meaning, operation, and potential of devolution in Wales.
Source: Laura McAllister, 'The Richard Commission Wales's alternative constitutional convention?', Contemporary Wales, Volume 17 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
The government responded to a report by a committee of peers on the Government of Wales Bill.
Source: Government Response to a Report on the Government of Wales Bill, Tenth Report, (Session 2005-06), HL 168, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | Peers report
Date: 2006-Apr
An article examined the scope and limits of the policy autonomy devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government, by reference to a case study of early childhood education and care.
Source: Daniel Wincott, 'Devolution and the welfare state: lessons from early childhood education and care policy in Wales', Environment and Planning C, Volume 24 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Apr
A report said that, although devolution was generally working well, there had been remarkably little thinking about devolution as a coherent package of reforms. The system was working largely because Labour had led the governments in Westminster, Edinburgh and Cardiff since 1999: but at some point issues would become the subject of party-political conflict.
Source: Charlie Jeffery et al., Final Report, ESRC Devolution Programme/School of Social and Political Studies/Edinburgh University (0131 650 8489) Links: Report
Date: 2006-Mar
A report by a committee of peers said that the Government of Wales Bill, which made extensive use of secondary legislative powers to achieve important constitutional ends, had been introduced against a backdrop of controversy about delegated powers provisions in other recent Bills.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Eighth Report, (Session 2005-06), HL 142, House of Lords Constitution Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | WO press release
Date: 2006-Mar
The Government of Wales Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to give the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Bill also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 28 February 2006, columns 133-155, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC Library research paper | Hansard
Date: 2006-Feb
The Government of Wales Bill was given a second reading. The Bill was designed to give the Welsh Assembly more powers. After the Assembly elections in 2007, the Assembly would be able to acquire enhanced legislative powers within subject matters approved by Parliament. The Bill also held out the prospect of full law-making powers in the future, subject to a referendum.
Source: Government of Wales Bill, Wales Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 9 January 2006, columns 22-127, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | HOC Library research paper | Hansard | Wales Office press release
Date: 2006-Jan
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on its White Paper on the government of Wales.
Source: Government White Paper: Better Governance for Wales - Government response to the Committee's First Report of Session 2005-06, Third Special Report, (Session 2005-06), HC 839, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2006-Jan
A new book examined the question of Britishness – past, present, and future. It investigated how devolution had brought a new focus on the future of Britain and the nature of Britishness; discussed the challenge of a more diverse society, with the search for a basis of social cohesion and solidarity; and examined the Prime Minister's Britishness project, with its aim of producing a statement of British values.
Source: Andrew Gamble and Tony Wright (eds.), Britishness: Perspectives on the British question, Wiley (01243 779777)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan
