National Assembly for Wales
Annual Report and Statement of Accounts of the Assembly Commission: 2007-08
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1. Introduction
Foreword by the Presiding Officer
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This, our first annual report as the National Assembly for Wales Commission, sets out how we have undertaken our duties from 9 May 2007 - the day the Government of Wales Act was invoked and provided us with our new powers – to 31 March 2008.
From 1999 to 2007, we were part of a larger corporate body which included the Welsh Assembly Government. This annual report will tell you about our activities and developments as a self standing parliamentary body and describe some of our highlights as well as our day to day work.
It has been an exciting and important year for us and we have built the foundations for the four years to 2011 so that will can fulfil our ambition of making the Assembly an accessible and effective parliamentary body that inspires the confidence of the people of Wales. Our Strategy was launched at the end of last summer and our five strategic goals lie at the heart of everything we do. The other sections of this report describe what we have been doing to achieve these. I think it is key that we have been able to embrace our new powers and work with pace and with passion to develop our legislative programme.
As a young institution, I have been enthused by our progress during the year. The positive engagement by Assembly Members and staff has seen: the introduction of seven proposed Legislative Competence Orders and two proposed Assembly Measures; the production of 3,500 pieces of written work for Assembly Members by our Members’ Research Service; 244 formal committee or legislation meetings as well as 61 full meetings of the Assembly in Plenary; our educational programme reached a total of 16,692 pupils from all parts of Wales and we welcomed our 500,000th visitor to the Senedd during the year.
Here and abroad, other parliamentary institutions and international delegations continue to be interested in our work and we hosted visits by 81 delegations during the year. Not only do they learn from us but such engagement promotes us as an institution and helps ensure that we can take our place on the international stage.
However, it is you, the people of Wales, who are the focus of our endeavours as an Assembly. In all we do in the development of our powers, we hope you will engage with us so that together we can create a better Wales. The journey has started and your involvement is essential to ensure that the momentum is maintained.
Introduction by the Chief Executive and Clerk
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The Government of Wales Act 2006 provided the National Assembly for Wales with significant new powers to legislate and strengthened its scrutiny role. It also created the National Assembly for Wales Commission, responsible for the provision of property, staff and services to support the Assembly. Our main activity during the year has been to support the work of the Assembly following the May 2007 elections and to implement procedures for its new functions.
Our new organisation has a strong service ethos, seeking pace, quality, best practice and improvement in all that we do. To meet these challenges, we have restructured to ensure that we have the right services in the right place and we expect to be able to build on these new, strong foundations in the future.
Staff within our three new Directorates; Operations, Assembly Business and Legal together with a Corporate Unit have embraced the challenges and cultural changes brought about by the enhanced powers and procedures and those introduced by the Assembly Commission Strategy which is described in more detail in Section 2 of this report. We have recruited and developed skilled staff in key positions and are introducing a leadership programme so that we can deliver the best service to Assembly Members and to you. I would like to thank everyone who works here for their co-operation, dedication and hard work during our first year.
You will read in this report how our management and governance arrangements have been built to support the achievement of our goals and ambitions. During the year, we developed risk management and service planning frameworks, a table of key performance indicators and appointed four independent advisers to advise and challenge us in our work. As Wales’ principal democratic institution, we have been determined to make best use of public funds, managing a budget of £41million and net assets of £67million.
In the coming year, our focus will be to build on our achievements so far to ensure that we are providing the best service. We will be seeking further opportunities to ensure you know about the Assembly’s work and to encourage debate about our powers and how we use them. We look forward to the challenges ahead and the prospects they bring with them.
