 Lord Richard has been two years preparing his report |
The Richard report into devolution in Wales has recommended that the Welsh assembly should get more powers, 20 more AMs and a change in the electoral system.
The report published on Wednesday calls for the assembly to have primary law-making powers in the areas of health and education where it took control five years ago.
It also says it is "desirable, though not essential" for a newly-strengthened assembly to have the power to vary tax.
Lord Richard suggests the changes, which include a different way of electing AMs. should be put in place by 2011 or earlier, if possible.
The report has received a welcome in some quarters, but Plaid Cymru says the proposals do not go far enough, while the Conservatives say changes must not be sneaked in "through the back door".
Do you think the Welsh assembly should be expanded and given more powers? Or should it stay as it is?
Use the form on the right of this page to let us know.
This Have Your Say is now closed.The following comments reflect the balance of the opinions we have received:
Will this cost the people of wales any more money.Definitely no tax raising powers should be granted to the assembly without a referendum. As for 20 more AM's I think we need to establish if we really need as many as we have now, if we have more AM's does this mean we will need more civil servants and quango's to service them and a bigger debating chamber to gather in.
R Layton, Haverfordwest, Wales
How dare Graham of Andover suggest Wales is part of England. It's time England voted to leave the UK, thus allowing the Celtic fringe to rule them selves and cease to be a burden on the English taxpayer.
Jonathan Lilley, Pinner, Middlesex.
If we the people who live in Wales, whether Welsh speaking or not, do not have the courage to govern ourselves then we deserve all we get or don't get as the case may be
Mr G.G John, Swansea Wales
Of course it should have more powers - who are these people who say we cannot rule ourselves?
John C. Williams, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
If we have 20 new AM's, will the new debating chamber be large enough to accommodate them or will we have a similar fiasco in 2011?
Paul, Cardiff, Wales
It is both illogical and impractical as well as undemocratic to have one elected body dependent on another to achieve and implement the policies on which it was elected. The Welsh Assembly Government is an inaccurate description - it is little more than an administration for legislation passed elsewhere without legislative powers of its own.
Madoc Batcup, Twickenham
I'm all for more powers, but more members ? The assembly needs to spend less on itself and do more for the people. Giving the AM's the powers to dump the ridiculous London-enforced assembly building site in Cardiff would be a great start to solving both problems.
Alan, Swansea
 |  I suspect that the assembly will be commissioning (secret) opinion polls like crazy, to see whether a referendum on more pay, sorry, more powers would stand a cat in hell's chance of being won.  |
The assembly suffers from the handicap of being no more than a half-way house. Let's have one thing or the other- either a full Welsh government or a properly British government wherein Wales and its culture is more fairly reflected.
Richy Roberts, Southport, Britain Politicians are always in favour of yet more politicians with even more powers. The last thing we need is more contributors to the talking shop in Cardiff. Needless to say a fat pay increase would go along with the greater 'responsibilities' !
Colin Chapman, Bridgend, Wales
Of course the assembly should be given more powers. Welsh politicians addressing Welsh issues. At the end of the day, unless it is a UK wide problem, why are English, Scottish and N. Irish politicians voting on Welsh issues in parliament in the first place? Although independence is the long term goal, this report is welcome in my book.
Gareth Williams, Ynys Mon, Wales
Nick from Cardiff mentions "question marks" over the quality of the AMs as a way of talking down the Commission. Remember the much bigger "question marks" of Walker, Hague and Redwood who used to "rule" Wales before Labour legislated for a Welsh Assembly. If you don't like the AMs, you can vote them out. If you didn't like the old system, you were stuck with it. Rhodri Morgan and Welsh Labour should be congratulated for allowing such a wide-ranging review as Richards to go ahead.
Susan Elan Jones, London
Lord Richard's report has highlighted for the first time that the assembly has settled in to devolution well, delivering Welsh policies tailored for Welsh people. His suggested reform in the electoral system is much needed as regional AMs are elected through the backdoor after losing their constituency elections whichn shortchanges Welsh people asn many AM's of dubious ability have been able to gain seats via the backdoor.
Emily McCaige, Cardiff, Wales
I suspect that the assembly will be commissioning (secret) opinion polls like crazy, to see whether a referendum on more pay, sorry, more powers would stand a cat in hell's chance of being won. I doubt that we'll ever be consulted.
John, Cardiff
There's a lack of interest in mainstream politics throughout the world; people's belief in politicians is at its lowest ebb for decades... so what do we do? Call for more politicians of course! Nonsense! When the Welsh assembly proves it can use the powers it already has, maybe then we should consider extending them...
Robert, London
| The Welsh assembly has to have reasonable powers as this report recommends or not exist at all: the current situation is terrible |
The only reason for me supporting the NAW would be if I had a job on it. Enough government without it. Spend the money on schools, hospitals, the environment. A few civil servants could allocate the money on a per capita basis.
John Dee, Cymru
Any proposal to give Cymru more self government will be welcomed by me. It is time Cymru regains its righfull place as an independent nation. The assembly has been doing a poor job at helping the nation, but that does not reflect a flaw in the principle of self-government. Rather, it reflects the poor quality of AMs that have been elected. Let Cymru make decision for the Cymry, and let the Cymry descide who will represent them.
Bil Pearce, Fitchburg, MA, USA
Welsh assembly? What's it for? Tony Blair is going to hand everything over to Europe. Ten years on we'll all be Speaking German with French accents,spending euros, and there wiil be no UK.parliament let alone Welsh or Scottish assembies. End of story.
W J Morris, Llantrisant.
Of course more power should be given to the assembly so that the people of Wales have a more democratic, accountable, representative and competant institution to govern them. It shows the servile nature of many in Wales and the poverty of the debate when people constantly complain that the assembly is a waste of money and incompetent. Which institution was responsible for the Iraq war, the Millennium Dome, most of Wales attaining Objective 1 status, and giving Wales the lowest GDP in Britain? Wales should look to Ireland and see what greater devolution can offer - a thriving country which Wales can only dream of until it takes control away from the neglect and incompetence of the centralised British state.
Matt, Cardiff
Only 25% of the people of Wales voted for the white elephant. And, why should Wales be the only part of England to have its own assembly?
Graham, Andover, England
The Welsh assembly is inefficient, too expensive and not necessary.
R.Shearer, Newborough, Anglesey
More AM's and a fairer voting system will ensure more views and parties such as the Greens are represented like in Scotland. Only then would the assembly truly represent Wales's views.
Chris, Solihull, UK
| Welsh assembly. More powers? It should be closed down. It is a complete waste of time and money |
The Welsh assembly has to have reasonable powers as this report recommends or not exist at all: the current situation is terrible.
Chris Williams, Oxford, UKWe should have a referendum with three proposals to vote on.1. Do you want to keep the assembly with its existing powers ? 2. Do you want to give it the extra powers proposed by the Richard Commission?. 3. Do you want to scrap the assembly ? Such a referendum would give the people of Wales a real choice.
Roger Wright, Menai Bridge, Wales, UK
I welcome these proposals. It's always seemed wrong to me that elected AMs cannot make laws for Wales while appointed or hereditary peers can. It's about time this principality became a democracy.
Robert Evans, Cardiff
Welsh assembly. More powers? It should be closed down. It is a complete waste of time and money.
Jonathon Evans, Newport
I would happily support more government for Wales, as long as they stopped this pointless pursual of the Welsh language. Most AMs speaks Welsh, most Labour local councillors speak Welsh, and in south Wales only one in eight people speak Welsh. What a stupid way to represent people. They call Welsh the language of Wales, when only a quarter of the entire population can speak it. It is piped in to non-speakers lives non-stop, and Welsh-speakers could survive perfectly well without it on every road sign and government installation.
Adam Johns, Cardiff, UK
The Richard report doesn't go far enough, and Wales needs full independence under a conservative, Libertarian-style administration. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should form a single government, separate from the Republic of Ireland and England. I find it strange that European politics follows a conservative-union, socialist/communist-separatist line of thinking. Welsh people should be asking some serious questions about why their political options are so limited.
Timothy Vaughan Burton, Springfield, Missouri, U.S.A.
The assembly is a glorified borough council which is a complete waste of public money. It should have been a parliament like the Scottish Parliament - or should not have been set up. Maybe it is time to abolish this self-serving body and transfer its executive powers back to the Welsh Office, which could be supervised by a Welsh Grand Committee with greater legislative powers. The Committee could also have a specific role in passing Welsh legislation - primary and secondary - in the only Parliament that really matters. We would elect one MP who would represent us and hold our executive to account; this would remove both the democratic deficit, and the over-paid and over-rated AMs in Cardiff Bay in one stroke.
Andrew, Llanelli, UKThe Welsh assembly is only a stepping stone to full Welsh independence. The more powers the assembly gets the nearer we get to achieving that goal.
Kevin Trahar, Neath, Wales
It is clear that the Assembly needs far greater powers if it is to function adequately. From the responses so far, it seems the proposals are something the intelligent people in Wales can get behind. Hopefully this report will mark a big step forward for government in Wales.
Alun Williams, Aberystwyth
While I agree with Wayne Morris about the quality of elected assembly members (not to mention the quality of the regional lists, but that's another matter altogether), I do see the Richard report as a good step forward in recruiting talented politicians who might have been put off the National Assembly because of the lack of real lawmaking powers. Wales is in dire need of some self-governance, especially in health and education, and has long been suffering at the hands of those whose first priority lies east of the River Severn. Perhaps more powers for the assembly will result in a clearer Welsh voice in the United Kingdom, and more interest at the polling level to effect a much needed change for Wales.
Dr. Emily Logan-Williams, Toronto, Canada (originally Benllech, Ynys M�n)
I believe that Labour owes it to the people of Wales to deliver a sustainable and powerful legislative body for Wales. I welcome the proposals and hope they are put in place before the English Conservatives regain power at Westminster, and treat Wales with the kind of contempt that gave us John Redwood.
Huw, Bangor, Gwynedd
No way!! We don't need 20 more AM's. It's costing us enough already and we certainly don't need to be making our own laws!! I voted 'no' for the assembly in the first place. It was a very small majority that swung the vote. I wonder how they feel about it now they've seen the amount of money wasting bureaucracy that this two-tiers of government is causing us?
Bev, Welshpool, Wales
| Bigger separation between legislature and executive will mean more costs and more civil servants. More assembly members means more costs and more civil servants. Legislative powers mean more costs and civil servants. Buildings to house all these new people means more cost. |
Devolution was sold to us as a process - not an event. Give the assembly (parliament) the power to do some good, but let's not spend more money on more members just yet. The number of Welsh MPs at Westminster cannot be reduced while decisions made there affect Wales, though perhaps only English MPs should vote on English only issues.
Wayne, CaerphillyTwenty more AM's ! It was difficult enough last time to find enough candidates that had any experience of running anything. Not a businessman or woman amongst them. Also the cost. Most of the AM's would never be capable of earning what they do in the assembly if they were in normal employment. If Wales is to thrive and flourish it needs to attract the very best people. No evidence of the assembly being able to do this, so far.
Raymond, London Welshman
I've always found it amusing that AMs interpret low turnout in assembly elections as the public believing the assembly "needs more powers". The reality is that the low turnout is at least partly due to the slow, bureaucratic nature of the assembly's current inhabitants. For a nation as suffocated as Wales is by red-tape, to create ever more tiers of government is like some sort of bad joke. The assembly perpetuates the unfortunate Welsh tradition of self-serving, self-centred quangos, albeit on a huge scale. New powers are the very last thing these people should be given.
Mark, Cardiff
Bigger separation between legislature and executive will mean more costs and more civil servants. More assembly members means more costs and more civil servants. Legislative powers mean more costs and civil servants. Buildings to house all these new people means more cost.
Mike, Pontypridd
I was one of the people helped draw up the Labour Party's proposals for devolution prior to the 1997 General Election and was special advisor at the Welsh Office during the referendum on devolution. Reform of the Welsh settlement has always been dependent on attitudes in London. The Richard Commission will only have been useful if it engages Whitehall in a debate about reforming the current settlement and if the Labour Party, takes this issues forward in its next General Election manifesto.
John Adams, Newcastle, UK
NO, the assembly is a total waste of money. Return all control to Westminster ASAP.
Steve, Powys, Wales
It is clear that what is good for London is not necessarily good for Wales. There is therefore a very real need for us to have more control over our own affairs and the only way to achieve this is by means of a larger, more powerful assembly, elected by a system of proportional representation. The assembly will need to be a lot more result focussed than it is now, as the emphasis currently seems to be on process rather than results.
Glyn Davies, Pontypool, Wales
| More powers will hopefully drive us to look more like the country we are, than an extra English county! |
I think it is wrong for Labour to try and create a one party state dictatorship which, listening to their comments about the Richard report, is their chosen political goal for themselves. This report gives Wales the chance for genuine parliamentary democracy for the first time ever.
Richard Corless, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan
It is about time we started acting like a grown-up nation. This report goes halfway towards achieving this. It's failing is in that it doesn't go far enough.
Craig, Pontypridd
Should the Welsh assembly get more powers? No.
Simon, Cardiff
More powers will hopefully drive us to look more like the country we are, than an extra English county!
Matt, Newport, Wales
I'm glad that this report has come up with some common sense answers. You wouldn't expect a carpenter to make anything without the proper tools, and the same is true of the assembly. To paraphrase Churchill "Give us the tools, and we can start the job"!
Rob Phillips, Lampeter, Wales
| Have yet to meet another fellow businessman that supports the WAG...lets disband it. |
Wales did very well under the system of the Welsh office supporting a Minister of State for Wales. It was a single stop decision process, an integrated decision process and a process that was accountable to elected members of the commons and relatively cheap. We now have a slow process an expensive process subject to political infighting and one that actual discourages investment. Rather than expand its powers why not use the Northern Irish damage limitation model and suspend the assembly for long periods?
Charles Murray, Wrexham
More powers to the Welsh Assembly.
Andrew, Bargoed
I just hope that the Labour governments in Westminster and Cardiff Bay take on what have been recommendations of the report and don't brush them under the carpet as is common with this kind of thing.
Sion , Caernarfon
The answer is 'no'. It should never have been set up in the first place.
Arthur Williams, Cwmbran Wales
It is essential for a strengthened body to have tax varying powers. Otherwise the report is good and needs to be implemented prior to 2007 elections. We cannot open ourselves to a weak Assembly in Cardiff and a Tory government in London without the power and means (tax -varying powers) to protect ourselves. The assembly needs direct links to Euro Commission and key decision makers and bodies in Brussels.
Chris Hoyle, Cardiff
Have yet to meet another fellow businessman that supports the WAG...lets disband it.
Chrys Agland, Blackwood, UK
I agree with the recommendations in this report but my only concern is that with 20 more AM's required, who foots the bill for this? The tax payer will once again have to put more monies into the assembly when that money could be better spent on services, hospitals, schools, etc throughout Wales.
Stewart Hey, Llannon,Wales
I don't object to the Welsh assembly getting more powers. However, we desperately need to address the West Lothian question. Any increase in powers for either Wales or Scotland, must be matched by a decrease in representation at Westminster to maintain fairness for those of us who live in England.
GJ, Shrewsbury, UK
The example set by Ireland shows how independence can change a country's fortunes both economic and social. This is the route that Wales should follow not a further step into the grey area of New Labour fixes.
Geraint Day, Treforest, Wales
The only way to get people interested in the Welsh assembly is to give it some power to do some good. At present it can do nothing and so unsurprisingly people aren't interested in what it does. Law-making powers is a good start to addressing the present shambles.
John Jones, Treforest, Wales
Who are the Welsh going to ask to fund this? They obviously do not contribute enough in tax to the UK exchequer as it is, and take out much more in real terms than they actually contribute. The disgraceful and discriminatory Barnett Formula will be with us forever if the Welsh are given more powers over Wales. Having more control and power is one thing, asking the English taxpayer to pay for it is quite another.
Roger Whitwick, England
I would argue with Tom from Neath's statement that the original referendum showed a complete lack of interest in a Welsh Assembly Government. I believe it was rather a reflection of the population's disappointment at being offered a sub-standard, half-way house in comparison to Scotland's parliament. Primary legislative powers will allow Wales to establish a body of law fully reflective of our national priorities and thereby re-engage the general population.
Gareth, London, England
| The poor turnout in the original referendum showed a complete lack of interest in a Welsh Assembly Government, I doubt that much has changed, except that the people of Wales will not get a chance to vote on the subject a second time |
I think the bottom line is the quality of people (ie AMs) - there are enough question marks over this which will only be heightened by expansion to 80. The assembly really needs to make sure it is making full use of its existing powers before there is much point in expanding the remit.
Nick , Cardiff The assembly is full of second-rate politicians. Far from giving them more powers the assembly should be abolished.
Wayne Morris, Port Talbot, Great Britain
I do not believe the assembly should have more powers without a further referendum. The people of Wales only voted marginally for an assembly in the first place! More AM's how ridiculous, this will end up costing the tax payers more and as for more PR NO THANK YOU
Delyth Singer, Merthyr Tydfil
The reports recommendations should be implemented immediately. Wales has "suffered" under English rule for too long. Any extension to its powers can only be good.
Joe, Hereford, England
I think that the assembly in its current state is a waste of money, and the option for more powers should have been considered at the beginning, as with the Scottish parliament. If the assembly doesn't get more powers, then it might as well be disbanded!
David, Cardiff, Wales
It seems to me that a report which is welcomed by one party, said to be too weak by another and said to go too far by yet another, has found the common ground and struck on an acceptable compromise. But, I don't believe that Wales needs yet another compromise. The power to, at the very least, vary taxes is essential.
John, Llanrwst, Wales
The poor turnout in the original referendum showed a complete lack of interest in a Welsh Assembly Government. I doubt that much has changed, except that the people of Wales will not get a chance to vote on the subject a second time.
Tim, Neath, Wales
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