The Assembly has responsibility for some policy areas, which means that some services and policies may differ from England, while other policies and laws are still made at Westminster. It also means that everyone in Wales votes in two different elections, one for Assembly Members, and General Elections for Westminster MPs.
National Assembly for Wales Wales has had its own Assembly since May 1999, following a referendum in Wales in 1997 where the vote was, just, in favour of devolving powers to a Welsh Assembly. The Assembly is based in Cardiff (www.wales.gov.uk), and the Welsh Assembly Government is led by the First Minister, currently Rhodri Morgan, and a cabinet of ministers.
- Assembly powers
Unlike the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly of Wales does not have full law-making powers. It is responsible for a budget of over £14billion (2006/7) and can develop and implement policy in many day-to-day areas, including health, education, industry, rural affairs and transport. It can enforce its policies through what is called 'secondary legislation'.Some examples of how the Assembly's policies make life different in Wales: the Assembly appointed the first Children's Commissioner, responsible for promoting the rights of children; Wales provides free prescriptions for everyone under 25; the Assembly wants to alter the exams taken by children over 16; Wales gets separate funding from the European Union, and this is administered by the Assembly (for instance, because of higher levels of poverty, more financial support can be given for improving homes here than in England).
What does the Assembly cover?
Agriculture, environmental issues, fisheries, food, forestry, water and flood defence, town and country planning; includes, for example, developing schemes to support agriculture and rural development.
Elections for the Assembly are held every four years. There are 60 elected Assembly Members (AMs). Voters have two votes, one to elect constituency AMs. There are 40 of these, elected on a 'first past the post' system. The second vote is used to elect a further 20 Assembly Members, from five electoral regions (North Wales, Mid and West Wales, South Wales West, South Wales Central, South Wales East). This 'Additional Member System' is a form of proportional representation, ensuring the overall number of seats for each political party reflects their share of the vote.
Government from Westminster
Welsh affairs at Westminster are run from the Welsh Office in London, which supports a Secretary of State for Wales who represents Welsh issues in the UK Government. Parliament continues to make primary legislation (law) covering Wales, and the UK Government remains responsible for defence and national security, foreign policy, home affairs, economic policy, employment legislation, social security and broadcasting.
Forty Welsh MPs are elected to the Westminster Parliament in General Elections, using the same geographical constituencies as the 40 Assembly Members. It is possible to have an MP and an AM in the same constituency from different political parties (as was the case in Monmouthshire until the 2005 election).
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