National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales Media Information Pack

Key facts
Commission
Senedd
Plenary
Committees
Legislation
Glossary

Key facts

The National Assembly for Wales was established by the Government of Wales Act 1998 following a referendum on devolution for Wales held on the 18th of September 1997. Under the recent 2006 Government of Wales Act, the Assembly’s powers were strengthened. The Assembly’s 60 elected members (AMs) can now not only scrutinise the work of the Welsh Government, but also make its own legislation in devolved areas.

Elections

Assembly elections take place every four years. The first Assembly was elected in 1999 and the most recent elections were held in May 2007.In an Assembly election each registered voter has two votes. The first vote is for a local constituency Member. A Member is elected for each of the 40 constituencies in Wales by the 'first past the post' system, the system by which MPs are elected to the House of Commons - i.e. the candidate with the greatest number of votes wins the seat.

The second vote is to elect a regional Member. Regional Members are elected by a form of proportional representation known as the 'Additional Member System’, and voters vote for a political party. This system goes some way towards ensuring that the overall number of seats held by each political party reflects the share of the vote that the party receives. More details about the electoral system.

Powers

The Assembly has the power to scrutinise the Welsh Government, and make its own legislation on devolved matters such as health, education, social services, local government.

Before it can make Welsh laws the Assembly needs the UK Parliament’s consent for the topic to be devolved, granting the Assembly 'legislative competence’ in a particular context. Legislative competence can either be granted by Acts of Parliament, or the Assembly can propose for powers to be devolved via a new route called Legislative Competence Orders (LCOs)

Once the National Assembly for Wales is granted legislative competence on a topic by the UK Parliament, it can begin the process of creating laws called Assembly Measures.

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The Assembly Commission

The corporate body for the National Assembly for Wales is known as the Assembly Commission. The Commission is responsible for ensuring the property, staff and services are provided for the Assembly. The Assembly Commission is chaired by the Presiding Officer, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas. The other members are Lorraine Barrett, Peter Black, Chris Franks and William Graham.

The staff of the Assembly Commission are headed by Claire Clancy, the Chief Executive and Clerk of the Assembly.

The Commission’s strategic aims are:  

  • We will promote and widen engagement in devolution
  • We will show unity, leadership and a bold response to constitutional change
  • In all our work, we will demonstrate respect, probity and good governance
  • We will work sustainably
  • We will ensure that the Assembly has the best service, provided in the most effective way

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The Senedd

The Senedd is the home of the National Assembly for Wales, and the main centre for democracy and devolution in Wales. It was designed by Richard Rogers and officially opened by the Queen on March 1 2006. The total cost for the building, including fixtures, fittings, furniture, art and ICT and broadcasting equipment was £67million.

The design brief requirements for the Senedd were set to ensure that the building met and exceeded the Assembly’s constitutional requirements for sustainable development and current good practice. In terms of environmental performance, the Senedd achieved an "Excellent” certification, the highest ever awarded in Wales) under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). The assessment took into consideration wider issues such as transport, noise, use of sustainable materials, management of the building and other green principles. The building uses renewable energy systems along with natural and passive systems to heat and cool the building. This will have an overall effect of reducing running costs for the building by 30-50%.  The Senedd’s 'chimney' is a wind assisted rotating cowl which is used to ventilate the inner space and high level air outlets to assist the effectiveness of natural ventilation. This helps reduce the building’s energy consumption.

The Senedd has a Siambr (debating chamber) and committee rooms for Assembly Members to carry out their business, but importantly, it is a transparent, public building, designed not just as a building for politicians but for all the people of Wales.  The Neuadd is the public space which welcomes visitors to the Senedd. The Oriel is an open, public space offering views of the Siambr at work, the Committee Rooms and a spectacular panorama of Cardiff Bay and surrounding buildings. The Siambr is designed to allow all members to see each other, make the democratic process more open, inclusive, and less confrontational. Members of the public can view meetings - called plenary sessions - in the Siambr from the public gallery and view committee meetings from the committee galleries.

Four projects by four artists were commissioned to ensure that art was integrated into the fabric of the Senedd. The Heart of Wales, a dome formed of multiple layers of glass, sits at the centre of the Siambr rising out of the oak floor. Rows of glass panes form the Assembly Field, designed to reduce the speed of high winds and protect pedestrians walking up to the front steps of the building. Over 40 tonnes of Ffestiniog slate slabs to create the Meeting Place sculpture which projects from the Senedd’s plinth. The fourth art project was the design of acoustic panels which have a practical function but also provide colour in the Senedd.

Thee Assembly's aspiration in developing the design was that the building should be exemplar in terms of accessibility for all. An Access Advisory Group was established during the design and build process, which consisted of representatives of disability interest groups from across Wales.

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Plenary

Full meetings attended by all sixty Assembly Members are called Plenary meetings. These take place in the Assembly's debating Chamber on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  The First Minister answers questions in Plenary every Tuesday, and other Ministers answer questions on Wednesday. Other business in Plenary includes statements by the Government, and debates tabled by either the opposition or the Government.  A full electronic record of proceedings of all Plenary and committee meetings is held on the Assembly website.

Committees

The Role of Committees

An Assembly Committee is a group of Assembly Members who meet regularly to undertake detailed and specific pieces of work. Almost all committee meetings take place in public.

Committees in the Assembly carry out many functions: some scrutinise the policies of the Welsh Assembly Government and hold Ministers to account for what they do and the money they spend; some examine proposed legislation; and others have specific functions allocated to them by the Assembly or its Standing Orders. Details of the remit and responsibilities of the committees.

Though not every one of the Assembly’s committees fits neatly into this categorisation, most could be described as having a 'scrutiny’ function (usually of the Assembly Government’s policies and spending) or a 'legislative’ function (examining the legislative proposals before the Assembly).

Scrutiny Committees

Responsibility for the examination of the whole of the expenditure, administration and policy of the Welsh Assembly Government and associated public bodies is shared between four main Scrutiny Committees:

  • Enterprise and Learning;
  • Health, Wellbeing and Local Government;
  • Sustainability; and
  • Communities and Culture.

A number of other committees have more specific roles in relation to the scrutiny of particular aspects of finance or areas of policy:

  • Audit;
  • Children and Young People;
  • Equality of Opportunity;
  • European and External Affairs; and
  • Finance.

When these committees have examined a particular issue they can make recommendations about development or change in the future. It is for the Welsh Assembly Government to decide how to respond to any recommendations.

Legislative Committees

The Subordinate Legislation Committee considers the technical aspects of all statutory instruments or draft statutory instruments made by the Welsh Ministers.

A separate committee is established to scrutinise any proposal for legislation before the Assembly ie any Assembly Measure or Legislative Competence Order. The name of each committee will reflect the proposal for legislation for which it is responsible. Once scrutiny of the proposal has been completed, the committee will cease to exist.

Other Committees

In addition, the Assembly has a Petitions Committee, which considers petitions submitted to the Assembly by organisations or members of the public; a Committee on Standards of Conduct, to ensure that proper standards of conduct are upheld by Members of the Assembly and investigate any complaints referred to it; and a North Wales regional Committee, which considers matters of relevance to the region. The Business Committee is responsible for the procedures of the Assembly and the management of the business considered when the Assembly meets.

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Legislation

New legislative powers were conferred on the National Assembly for Wales at the start of the Third Assembly in May 2007.  These new powers were provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006, which allows the Assembly to pass legislation in areas where it has legislative competence.  

The Assembly’s legislative competence

The areas within which the Assembly currently has legislative competence are set out in Schedule 5 to the Government of Wales Act.

Schedule 5 lists the areas of legislative competence under subject 'Fields’, which are then further defined by 'Matters’ within each Field.  Schedule 5 may be amended to add further 'Matters’ and thus extend the legislative competence of the Assembly.  This may be done either by an Act of Parliament, or by a Legislative Competence Order (LCO) which must be approved by the National Assembly for Wales and both Houses of the UK Parliament. View the LCO process as a diagram

In the areas in which it has legislative competence, the Assembly can make its own laws, known as "Measures”. A Measure will have similar effect to an Act of Parliament. Measures may be proposed by the Assembly Government, Assembly Committees, an Assembly Member or the Assembly Commission. View the Measures process as a diagram

Subordinate Legislation

The Assembly also has a role in scrutinising Subordinate Legislation made by the Welsh Ministers.  Subordinate legislation supplements Assembly Measures or Acts of the UK Parliament and can include orders, regulations, rules, schemes as well as statutory guidance and local orders.  

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Glossary

Act of Parliament  - A law passed by the UK Parliament that has received Royal Assent i.e. which has been signed by the Monarch. Acts are often referred to as primary legislation.

Additional Member System - A system of proportional representation used at National Assembly elections to elect 20 of the 60 AMs.

Assembly Member (AM) - Person elected by the people of Wales to represent them at the National Assembly for Wales. 60 Assembly Members are elected.

Committee - A group of Assembly Members from different parties who come together to discuss a particular subject area or to scrutinise particular pieces of proposed legislation.

Constituency - A constituency is a defined geographical area that returns an AM to the National Assembly for Wales or a Member of Parliament (MP) to Parliament at Westminster. Wales is divided up into 40 constituencies which elect 40 AMs under the first past the post system.  

Counsel General - The Chief legal advisor to the Welsh Assembly Government. The Counsel General is a member of the Welsh Assembly Government but is not necessarily a Welsh Minister and does not have to be an Assembly Member.  

Executive - A term used to describe the government and distinguish it from the legislature

Field - Devolved policy areas within which the National Assembly for Wales will be able to seek legislative competence to enact Measures. Schedule 5 of the government of Wales Act is split into 20 different fields. Matters are added to the fields by legislative competence order.  

First Past the Post -The system used to elect 40 of the 60 AMs at National Assembly elections.

First Minister - An Assembly Member appointed by the Queen to be First Minister following nomination by the National Assembly for Wales. Head of the Welsh Assembly Government

Legislative Competence -The power to make laws. The Assembly obtains legislative competence in relation to a particular matter once that matter has been inserted into a field of Schedule 5 of the GoWA 2006

Legislature - Where new laws are debated and agreed. Also scrutinises the Government’s decisions and holds the Government to account.

Matters - A defined subject on which the assembly can make measures - a matter must be inserted into a field in Schedule 5 of the GoWA 2006 before the Assembly has legislative competence for it.  

Measures - The National Assembly can make its own laws, known as measures. A measure will have the same effect as an Act of Parliament and will be approved by the Queen at the Privy Council.

National Assembly Elections - Elections to choose 60 AMs to represent constituencies and regions at the National Assembly for Wales. Elections are held every four years.  

National Assembly for Wales (also National Assembly or Assembly) - The unincorporated association of 60 Assembly Members - a separate legislature  established under the Government of Wales Act 2006, with a parliamentary/legislative and scrutinising character.

National Assembly for Wales Commission - The corporate body that supports the National Assembly for Wales. This is responsible for employing staff, holding property, entering into contracts and ensuring that support services are provided for Assembly Members. The Commission comprises the Presiding Officer and four other Assembly Members.

Order in Council - A method by which the National Assembly for Wales will be able to request, from Parliament, additional Matters to be added to the Fields to give it the legislative competence to enact Measures. An Order in Council is a general term for a certain type of secondary legislation which, because of its constitutional nature, is formally made by the Queen.

Presiding Officer (known as the Llywydd)  - Chairs the Plenary meeting and makes sure that the business of the Assembly is carried out correctly. Chairs the Assembly Commission and the Business Committee.

Primary legislation - For most purposes, an Act of Parliament. 

Privy Council - A meeting of the Queen and her Privy Counsellors who are members of the government. Assembly Measures will be approved at Privy Council.

Referendum  - The procedure by which a question is referred to the electorate, who vote on it in a similar way to a general election.

Region  - Wales is divided into 5 electoral regions for the Additional Member System of Proportional Representation. Four regional Assembly Members are elected to represent each of these regions; therefore 20 AMs are elected to represent regions.

Reserved matters - The issues that are decided at UK level such as Defence, Foreign Affairs, Employment Law, Taxes and Social Security.

Royal Assent - The formal approval by the Queen by which a Parliamentary Bill becomes an Act. Assembly Measures will be approved by the Queen at the Privy Council.

Scrutiny - The process during which proposed measures and legislative orders and the government’s performance is examined.

Senedd - The Welsh word for Parliament or Senate. The building in which the Assembly meets.

Standing Orders - The rules which govern regulation of Assembly proceedings.

Subordinate legislation - This relates to laws that are made by government Ministers under powers given to them by Parliament. These laws do not go through the same parliamentary process as primary legislation.

Welsh Assembly Government - A new body with governmental/executive responsibilities to be established under the Government of Wales Act 2006, to develop policies and take decisions.

Welsh Consolidated Fund - The public money allocated to Wales by the UK Government, via the Secretary of State for Wales, and also that received from other sources. The new Welsh Assembly Government and National Assembly for Wales Commission will be able to draw down funds from the Welsh Consolidated Fund provided they are in accordance with a budget motion approved by the Assembly. The budgets of the Auditor General for Wales and the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales will be charged on the Welsh Consolidated Fund.

Welsh Minister - An Assembly Member appointed as Welsh Minister by the First Minister, with the approval of Her Majesty, forming part of the Welsh Assembly Government.

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