The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales

The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales is not the same thing. 

In 1997 there was a referendum in Wales in which the people voted that Wales should have its own parliament which was later named the National Assembly. 

This is part of devolution; this is when power is shared from a central point such as from the London UK Government to regional governments such as those now in Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh. 

After the yes vote in 1997 the first elections were in 1999 followed by 2003, 2007 and 2011.

Image: Senned National Assembly for Wales © Wikimedia Commons under All rights released

At first the National assembly was different from nearly every other parliament in the world in because there was only the National Assembly. 

There was no difference between legislative and executive actions. 

Legislative means the debates, discussions and votes taken by all members. 

Executive means the day to day decision making and policies. 

As a result of this there was some confusion on roles and who should be doing what, as a result there was a need to separate these two parts of government. 

Things changed after the 2007 election of the National Assembly for Wales. New laws made it clear what were the roles and responsibilities of the National Assembly for Wales made up of the 60 assembly members and the Welsh Government made up of the First Minister, and the Welsh Ministers. 

• The role of the government is to make decisions; develop and implement policy and make statutory instruments (Welsh laws).

• The 60 assembly members in the National Assembly scrutinise (look at and debate) the Welsh Government's decisions and policies; hold ministers to account and approve budgets.

At first the National Assembly did not have any real law making powers. 

However after a referendum in March 2011 Wales gained direct law making powers. Over devolved areas, since 2006 these are: 

• Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development
• Ancient monuments and historic buildings
• Culture
• Economic development
• Education and training
• Environment
• Fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety
• Food
• Health and health services
• Highways and transport
• Housing
• Local government
• Public administration
• Social welfare
• Sport and recreation
• Tourism
• Town and country planning
• Water and flood defence
• Welsh language 

Image: Debating chamber, Y Senedd - Keith Edkins © Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

The Welsh Government and Assembly have asked for more powers over new areas such as policing and energy as well as more fiscal powers (which means to do with money). 

The Welsh Government has wanted powers over certain taxes and also wants to be able to borrow money. 

In 2015 the Welsh Government introduced a new law to create an organisation to collect taxes in Wales. This was passed in March 2016 and created the WRA (Welsh Revenue Authority) which will collect new taxes here in Wales. 

So the Welsh Government and the national Assembly for Wales already has a large amount of control over our lives here in Wales. 

This is even more true for younger people where education, housing, health, sport & recreation tend to cover most aspects of their lives and are already devolved.