Senedd
Senedd Cymru Welsh Parliament | ||
---|---|---|
Leader of the Opposition | ||
Manon Antoniazzi since April 2017 | ||
Structure | ||
Seats | 60 | |
Political groups | Government (30)
In limited co-operation with (12)
Other Opposition (18)
| |
Elections | ||
Additional-member system | ||
Last election | 6 May 2021 | |
Next election | due on 7 May 2026 | |
Meeting place | ||
Siambr (debating chamber) in the Senedd building, Cardiff, Wales | ||
Website | ||
senedd |
The Senedd (Welsh:
The Senedd comprises 60 members who are known as
A National Assembly for Wales was created by the
History
This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
Politics of Wales |
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Road to devolution
An appointed
Following the 1997 general election, the new Labour Government argued that an Assembly would be more democratically accountable than the Welsh Office. For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom by a Secretary of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster.[15] A referendum was held in Wales on 18 September 1997 in which voters approved the creation of the National Assembly for Wales with a total of 559,419 votes, or 50.3% of the vote.[16]
The following year the
In July 2002, the Welsh Government established an independent commission, with Lord Richard (former leader of the House of Lords) as chair, to review the powers and electoral arrangements of the National Assembly to ensure that it is able to operate in the best interests of the people of Wales.[18] The Richard Commission reported in March 2004. It recommended that the National Assembly should have powers to legislate in certain areas, whilst others would remain the preserve of Westminster.[18] It also recommended changing the electoral system to the single transferable vote (STV) which would produce greater proportionality.[18]
In response, the British government, in its Better Governance for Wales White Paper, published on 15 June 2005, proposed a more permissive law-making system for the Welsh Assembly based on the use of Parliamentary Orders in Council.[19][20] In so doing, the Government rejected many of the cross party Richard Commission's recommendations. This has attracted criticism from opposition parties and others.[citation needed]
Enhanced powers: The Government of Wales Act 2006
The Government of Wales Act 2006 received Royal assent on 25 July 2006. It conferred on the Assembly legislative powers similar to other devolved legislatures through the ability to pass Assembly Measures concerning matters that are devolved. Requests for further legislative powers made through legislative competence requests were subject to the veto of the Secretary of State for Wales, House of Commons or House of Lords.
The Act reformed the assembly to a parliamentary-type structure, establishing the Welsh Government as an entity separate from, but accountable to the National Assembly. It enables the Assembly to legislate within its devolved fields.
The Act also reforms the Assembly's electoral system. It prevents individuals from standing as candidates in both constituency and regional seats. This aspect of the act was subject to a great deal of criticism[citation needed], most notably from the Electoral Commission.[citation needed], though it was supported in the Richard Commission[18]
The Act was heavily criticised[citation needed]. Plaid Cymru, the Official Opposition in the National Assembly from 1999 to 2007, attacked it[citation needed] for not delivering a fully-fledged parliament. Many commentators[who?] have also criticised the Labour Party's allegedly partisan attempt to alter the electoral system. By preventing regional Members from standing in constituency seats the party has been accused[by whom?] of changing the rules to protect constituency representatives. Labour had 29 members in the Assembly at the time, all of whom held constituency seats.[citation needed]
The changes to the Assembly's powers were commenced on 4 May 2007, after the election.[21]
Following a referendum on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law making powers, without the need to consult Westminster.
Reserved powers model: The Wales Act 2017
The Conservative-Liberal coalition government created the Commission on Devolution in Wales (also known as Silk Commission), composed of members nominated by the 4 parties represented in the Welsh Assembly and several leading legal and political experts, to "create a lasting devolution settlement for Wales". Following the first set of recommendations by the Commission, the UK government announced in November 2013 that some borrowing powers are to be devolved to the Assembly along with control of landfill tax and stamp duty. Additionally the Wales Act 2014 provides for a referendum to be held on the Assembly's ability to set a degree of income tax,[22] though there is a proposal for the requirement for a referendum to be removed.
Both the UK and Welsh governments supported the Silk Commission (Part 2) proposal to move to a "reserved powers" model of devolution (similar to that of the Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly) where the UK government would have specific "reserved" powers and the Welsh Assembly would have control of all other matters.[23][24] This replaced the previous model where certain powers were "conferred" and all others were assumed to be powers of the UK national government. Since the passing of the Wales Act 2017, the power model in Wales has been in line with that of Scotland, being a reserved matter model.[25]
The Wales Act 2017, based on the second set of recommendations of the Silk Commission, proposed devolving further areas of government, including some relating to water, marine affairs (ports, harbours, conservation), energy (subsidies, petroleum extraction, construction of smaller energy-generating facilities, etc.), rail franchising and road travel.[26]
Name change
In July 2016, Assembly members unanimously agreed that the name of the Assembly should reflect its constitutional status as a national parliament.[27] The Assembly Commission ran a public consultation on the proposal, which showed that 61% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the Assembly should change its name.[28] In 2018, the commission announced its intention to introduce legislation to change the name of the Assembly. Later that year, the Llywydd – the Assembly's presiding officer – wrote to all Assembly Members explaining that the name change proposed in the Bill would be the monolingual name "Senedd".[29] In 2019, the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill, favouring the name "Senedd", was introduced on behalf of the Assembly Commission. Following support of a subsequent amendment to the Bill which favoured a bilingual name for the institution, the Bill was passed by the Assembly on 27 November 2019 and was given Royal Assent on 15 January 2020.[30][31] The Act changed the name of the Assembly to "Senedd Cymru" or the "Welsh Parliament". Its guidance states that the institution will be commonly known as the Senedd in both languages. The name change came into effect on 6 May 2020. Members of the renamed body are known as Members of the Senedd (MS), or Aelodau o'r Senedd (AS) in Welsh.[32][33]
Constraints on powers: UK Internal Market Act 2020
As part of the process of leaving the European Union, the Conservative Party in power in Westminster passed the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020. This legislation aims to prevent internal trade barriers within the UK, and to restrict the exercise of legislative powers of the devolved administrations in economic areas.[10] It has several effects on the constitutional arrangements regarding devolved legislative powers. Principal amongst these is the effect that the market access principles will have on the practical ability of the devolved administrations to regulate economic activity.[40][43] It also expressly reserves the regulation of distortive or harmful subsidies to the UK Government, and gives them spending powers in numerous policymaking areas.[34][40]
These powers undermine the authority of the Senedd to determine infrastructure priorities within its jurisdiction. The principles undermine devolved competences in two ways. These relate to its status as a protected enactment, and to the disproportionate market size and power of the economy under English jurisdiction.[34] Because the Senedd will be unable to disapply the market access principles, if they attempt to introduce new or stricter regulatory standards, they will only apply to goods produced within the devolved jurisdiction. This means that these standards will have little or no practical effect other than to disadvantage their own economy, severely restricting their ability to introduce regulatory divergence, or pursue different economic or social choices to those made in Westminster.[40][43]
Proposed expansion
On 22 November 2021, Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru agreed a co-operation deal[44] that will see the implementation of 46 policies that the two parties share.[45] One of these is the expansion of the Senedd from 60 Members to between 80 and 100 Members.[46]
At its Conference on 12 March 2022, Welsh Labour unanimously approved increasing the size of the Senedd. "The expansion of the Senedd is essential because the journey of devolution is not yet complete," former First Minister Alun Michael said. "There is more to come. And the capacity needs to be there for those backbenchers to do the job of holding to account that you rightly said, cannot be done by to smaller number of representatives."[47] Two weeks later, Plaid members backed the expansion proposal as well.[48]
On 10 May 2022, plans to increase the number of MSs from 60 to 96 were unveiled, as well as the scrapping of
On 8 June 2022, the Senedd voted 40-14 in favour of expanding the number of MSs.[51]
In 2023, the reform bill committee heard reforms included taking 32 new constituencies created that will be used in the
Buildings
Senedd building
The
The Senedd houses the debating chamber known as the Siambr (
The Senedd is designed to be environmentally friendly: it uses an Earth Heat Exchange system for heating; rainwater is collected from the roof and used for flushing toilets and cleaning windows, and the roof features a wind cowl which funnels natural light and air into the debating chamber below.[59]
Telecasting
The building houses the debating chamber and committee rooms for the Senedd. When the Senedd building opened on 1 March 2006, there was regular screening of live proceedings from the Siambr on
In October 2023, GB News was banned from the Senedd's internal TV system, with a spokesperson for the presiding officer claiming the channel was "deliberately offensive, demeaning to public debate and contrary to our parliament's values".[65]
Tŷ Hywel and Pierhead Building
The debating chamber was initially based in Tŷ Hywel, next to the site of the present building. The offices of Members are still in this building which is connected to the Senedd by a skyway. The Senedd Commission is also responsible for the Pierhead Building, which is the location of "The Assembly at the Pierhead" exhibition, and is the Visitor and Education Centre for the Senedd as well as housing a small gift shop. The exhibition, currently still in the process of being updated following the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election,[needs update] provides visitors with information on who's who, what's happening and how the Senedd works.
North Wales Office
The North Wales Information Centre is located in Prince's Park on Prince's Drive, Colwyn Bay. The office is open to the public to access information about the Senedd. The office is open on weekdays between 10:00 and 16:00.[66]
Officials
Elected officials
After each election, the Senedd elects one Member of the Senedd to serve as Llywydd (Presiding Officer) of the Senedd, and another to serve as Deputy Presiding Officer (Dirprwy Llywydd). Elin Jones, Plaid Cymru MS, has been Llywydd since 2016, having taken over from Rosemary Butler. The Llywydd also acts as Chair of the Senedd Commission. Both the Llywydd and the Deputy Presiding Officer (Dirprwy Lywydd) typically don't vote in simple-majority votes.
Permanent officials
The permanent administrative and support staff of the Senedd are employed by the Senedd Commission. They are not civil servants, although they enjoy similar terms and conditions of service to members of the UK Civil Service.
Powers and status
The Senedd consists of 60 elected members. They use the title Member of the Senedd (MS) or Aelod o'r Senedd (AS).[68] The executive arm of the Senedd, the Welsh Government, has been a Labour administration since its inception in 1999. Currently it is led by First Minister, Mark Drakeford, since December 2018.[69] The government between 2007 and 2011, had been a coalition between Labour, led by First Minister Carwyn Jones and Plaid Cymru, led by Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones; and between 2016 and 2021, Labour had been in coalition with the Liberal Democrats and an independent member.[70][71] Since 2021, the government has been a Labour minority government that works in co operation with Plaid Cymru. The executive and civil servants are mainly based in Cardiff's Cathays Park while the MSs, the Senedd Commission and Ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay, where a new £67 million building, the Senedd, has been built.[72][73][74]
One important feature of the National Assembly until 2007 was that there was no legal or constitutional separation of the legislative and executive functions, since it was a single corporate entity. Compared with other parliamentary systems, and arrangements for devolution in other countries of the UK, this was unusual. In practice, however, there was separation of functions, and the terms "Assembly" and "Assembly Parliamentary Service" came into use to distinguish between the two arms. The Government of Wales Act 2006 regularised the separation when it came into effect following the 2007 Assembly Election.
Initially, the Assembly did not have primary legislative or fiscal powers, as these powers were reserved by
The Assembly gained limited primary legislative powers following the 2007 election and the passage of the Government of Wales Act 2006. These laws are known as Assembly Measures and can be enacted in specific fields and matters within the legislative competency of the Assembly. New matters and fields can be devolved by Acts of the UK Parliament or by LCOs approved by Parliament.
Until 2015 the Assembly had no tax-varying powers, however it could influence the rate of Council Tax set by local authorities, which are part-funded by a grant from the Welsh government.[75] It also has some discretion over charges for government services. Notable examples in which this discretion has been used to create significant differences from other areas in the UK are:
- Charges for NHS prescriptions in Wales – these have now been abolished.[76]
- Charges for University Tuition – are different for Welsh resident students studying at Welsh Universities, compared with students from or studying elsewhere in the UK.[77]
- Charging for Residential Care – In Wales there is a flat rate of contribution towards the cost of nursing care (roughly comparable to the highest level of English Contribution) for those who require residential care.[78]
This means in reality that there is a wider definition of "nursing care" than in England and therefore less dependence on means testing in Wales than in England, so that more people are entitled to higher levels of state assistance. These variations in the levels of charges may be viewed as de facto tax varying powers.
This model of more limited legislative powers created in 1999 was partly because Wales has had the same legal system as England since 1536 (though a different court system until 1830), when it was merged with England. Ireland and Scotland were never merged with England, and so always retained some differences in their legal systems. The Scottish Parliament and the Northern Ireland Assembly both have deeper and wider powers.
The Assembly inherited the powers and budget of the Secretary of State for Wales and most of the functions of the Welsh Office. It has power to vary laws passed by Westminster using secondary legislation.
Following a referendum on 4 March 2011, the Welsh Assembly gained direct law-making powers (without the need to consult Westminster). On 3 July 2012, the Welsh Assembly passed its first Act, the Local Government Byelaws (Wales) Act.[79]
The Wales Act 2014 and Wales Act 2017 devolved the following taxes to the Welsh Assembly:
- Non-Domestic Rates in Wales – from 1 April 2015
- Land Transaction Tax (LTT) – from 1 April 2018
- Landfill Disposals Tax (LDT) – from 1 April 2018
- Welsh Rates of Income Tax (WRIT) – from 1 April 2019
Powers of the Senedd
The Senedd has the competence to pass bills for Acts of Senedd Cymru in all areas which are not explicitly reserved to Westminster; these 'reserved matters' are outlined in schedule 7A of the Government of Wales Act 2006.[80]
This means the Senedd has powers over areas such as:
- Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development
- Culture
- Economic development
- Education and training
- Environment
- Health and health services
- Highways and transport
- Local government
- Tourism
- Welsh language
Reserved matters include subjects such as:
- Foreign affairs
- Police and justice
- Currency
- Most benefits
- Most taxes
Members, constituencies, and electoral system
Under the
Had we done that of course we would have had to have had a Boundary Commission and that process would have taken forever and a day and that would have frustrated our overall political timetable. So we had to settle on the existing constituency arrangements, parliamentary constituencies and European Constituencies.[84]
In April 2020 the Senedd became the first legislature in the UK to meet over the internet. Due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, it held First Minister's Questions using Zoom videotelephony software and the session was subsequently broadcast by Senedd.tv.[85]
Elections
There have been six elections to the Senedd, in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2021. The 2016 election was delayed from 2015 as the UK general election was held in 2015,[86][87] and following the passing of the Wales Act 2014, elections occur every five years from the 2016 election.
The next Senedd election is due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026.
Summary
Assembly/ Senedd |
Year | Turnout | Seats | Governments | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Plaid Cymru |
Conservative | Lib Dems |
UKIP | Others | ||||
1997 | 50% | Devolution referendum | |||||||
1st | 1999 | 46% | 28 | 17 | 9 | 6 | – | – | Interim Morgan (Labour minority) (Labour – LD)
Morgan I |
2nd | 2003 | 38% | 30 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 1 (JMIP) | Morgan II (Labour majority until 2005[88]), minority after 2005 [n 1] |
3rd | 2007 | 44% | 26 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 (BGPVG) | Morgan III (Labour minority) Morgan IV (Labour – Plaid) Jones I (Labour – Plaid) |
2011 | 36% | Devolution referendum | |||||||
4th | 2011 | 42% | 30 | 11 | 14 | 5 | 0 | – | Jones II (Labour minority) |
5th | 2016 | 45% | 29 | 12 | 11 | 1 | 7 | – | Jones III (Labour–LD minority, Lib Dem coalition) Drakeford I (Labour–LD–IND majority) |
6th | 2021 | 47% | 30 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 0 | – | Drakeford II (Labour minority) |
Notes
- ^ With the Presiding and Deputy Presiding Officer both coming from the opposition Labour had 30 voting members to the oppositions collective 28. This government officially became a minority government in 2005 after Peter Law left Labour to sit as an independent on the opposition benches, giving the government 29 and the opposition (excluding the Presiding Officer and Deputy) 29.
Last election
Overall
Parties | Additional member system
|
Total seats | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency | Region | |||||||||||||||
Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Total | +/− | % | ||||
Labour | 443,047 | 39.9 | 5.2 | 27 | 401,770 | 36.2 | 4.7 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 50 | ||||
Conservative | 289,802 | 26.1 | 5.0 | 8 | 2 | 278,650 | 25.1 | 6.3 | 8 | 3 | 16 | 5 | 26.7 | |||
Plaid Cymru | 225,376 | 20.3 | 0.2 | 5 | 1 | 230,161 | 20.7 | 0.1 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 21.7 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 54,202 | 4.9 | 2.8 | 0 | 1 | 48,217 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.7 | ||||
Green | 17,817 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0 | 48,714 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||
Abolish | 18,149 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0 | 41,399 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||||
UKIP | 8,586 | 0.8 | 11.7 | 0 | 17,341 | 1.6 | 11.4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0.0 |
Turnout
Voter turnout at Senedd elections has been traditionally lower than UK general elections. No election since devolution began has hit 50% turnout, with the 2021 election being the highest at 46.6%.[89] In their 2004 paper Turnout, Participation and Legitimacy in Post-Devolution Wales, academics Roger Awan-Scully, Richard Wyn Jones and Dafydd Trystan Davies identified three potential reasons for this: antipathy to the Welsh institutions, apathy to the Welsh institutions or apathy to politics more generally. They suggested apathy – in Wales and to politics in general – is the most likely reason.[90]
Following the 2021 election, Dr Jac Larner, a politics lecturer at Cardiff University and an investigator for the Welsh election survey, said the lower turnout figures in Wales did not necessarily reflect a lack of perceived importance in the Senedd.[91] He told BBC News: "We know from research that low voter turnout is actually a lot do to with people thinking they can't win in a devolved election, so they don't bother going to vote. That's different to a general election where, in Wales, Labour are still more likely to win a majority of seats, but at the UK level it's far more competitive."[91] He compared turnout in Wales to turnout for Scottish Parliament elections, which is significantly higher: "Scotland is in quite a unique political position at the moment, where the single most salient issue and the biggest cleavage in society – the issue of independence – basically is going to be determined by what happens at the Holyrood elections. Part of it is this idea of interest – there has always been more interest in the idea of a Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Parliament has always been more powerful than the Senedd, even going back to 1999."[91]
Current composition
Government formation
Welsh Labour won 30 seats out of 60 in the 2021 Senedd elections. On 9 May 2021 the First Minister, Mark Drakeford MS said "We have demonstrated over a number of governments that you can govern successfully on 30 seats, but I'm open to working with any party where there is common ground between us."[92]
On 22 November 2021, a deal between Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru was announced. This is not a coalition government and will not see Plaid Cymru MSs take up Minister or Deputy Minister Posts, they will remain in opposition. However, Plaid Cymru will be able to appoint special advisors to the Welsh Government. The deal will last for three years.[1]
See also
- Welsh Law
- Act of Senedd Cymru
- List of by-elections to the Senedd
- Regional member changes to the Senedd
- Member of the Senedd
- Scottish Parliament
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- Senedd constituencies and electoral regions
- Wales-only laws
- List of Senedd elections
- List of devolved matters in Wales
References
- ^ a b
- "Ambitious deal to deliver radical change and reform". GOV.WALES. 22 November 2021.
- "Labour and Plaid Cymru deal set to last three years". BBC News. 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Plaid Cymru Senedd member Rhys ab Owen suspended from party group". BBC News. 8 November 2022.
- ^ "Senedd Cymru and Welsh Parliament names become law". senedd.wales. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ "What is the role of the Senedd?". Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
- ^ Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament. National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act 2012 as amended (see also enacted form), from legislation.gov.uk.
- ISBN 978-1-134-36915-7. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020". Legislation.gov.uk. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
- ^ "Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill" (PDF). senedd.wales.
- ^ "Wales says Yes in referendum vote". BBC News. 4 March 2011.
- ^ a b [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][11][41][42][43]
- ^ .
The Act has restrictive – and potentially damaging – consequences for the regulatory capacity of the devolved legislatures...This was not the first time since the Brexit referendum that the Convention had been set aside, but it was especially notable given that the primary purpose of the legislation was to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy...in practice, it constrains the ability of the devolved institutions to make effective regulatory choices for their territories in ways that do not apply to the choices made by the UK government and parliament for the English market.
- ^ The road to the Welsh Assembly from BBC Wales History website. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
- ^ a b c "Devolution in the UK". Department for Constitutional Affairs. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
- ^ The 1979 Referendums: BBC website. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
- ^ Evidence to Richards Commission Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine of Cllr Russell Goodway. 10 July 2003. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
- ^ Politics 97 by Joshua Rozenberg: BBC website. Retrieved 9 July 2006.
- ^ Key Events in the Development of the National Assembly for Wales: First Assembly, 1999–2003 (PDF), National Assembly for Wales, p. 15, retrieved 1 July 2019
- ^ a b c d The Richard Commission. Archived Richard Commission Website, includes copy of Commission report. Archived 10 April 2010.
- ^ Better Governance for Wales White Paper, Archived February 2006. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Wales in June 2005. Downloadable PDF. Retrieved 9 December 2005.
- ^ Electoral Reform for Wales Archived 8 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine. Electoral Reform Society response to rejection of Richard Commission recommendations. Retrieved 9 December 2005.
- ^ Assembly powers bill becomes law: BBC News. 25 July 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2006.
- ^ "Wales offered tax raising powers". BBC News. 1 November 2013.
- ^ Wales Office (UK Government). "Government Response to the Welsh Affairs Committee Report on Pre-legislation Scrutiny of the Wales Bill" (PDF).
- ^ Welsh Government (26 May 2016). "Draft Government and Laws Bill in Wales".
- ^ "Wales Act 2017". legislation.gov.uk.
- ^ "Wales Bill 2016" (PDF).
- ^ seneddresearch (5 March 2019). "The Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill". IN BRIEF. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ "National Assembly to be renamed Welsh Parliament under new law". ITV News. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ Jones, Elin (2018). "Letter from the Llywydd to all Assembly Members" (PDF). Senedd Cymru.
- ^ Ifan, Mared (30 September 2019). "National Assembly set for new bilingual name". BBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ "Historic Act enables voting for 16 and 17-year olds – renames Assembly to "Welsh Parliament"". Wrexham.com. 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Name Change Consultation". assembly.wales.
- ^ "Votes at 16 plan for 2021 Senedd election". BBC News. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b c Dougan, Michael; Hayward, Katy; Hunt, Jo; McEwen, Nicola; McHarg, Aileen; Wincott, Daniel (2020). UK and the Internal Market, Devolution and the Union. Centre on Constitutional Change (Report). University of Edinburgh; University of Aberdeen. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
- ^ Dougan, Michael (23 September 2020). Professor Michael Dougan: Evidence on the UK internal market bill. Finance and Constitution Committee (Report). Edinburgh: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. 21st Meeting 2020, Session 5. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
By imposing widespread obligations of non-discrimination and, more important, mutual recognition, the bill seeks to restrict the way that devolved competences operate in practice.
- hdl:1814/70296.
The UK Internal Market Act gives ministers sweeping powers to enforce mutual recognition and non-discrimination across the four jurisdictions. Existing differences and some social and health matters are exempted but these are much less extensive than the exemptions permitted under the EU Internal Market provisions. Only after an amendment in the House of Lords, the Bill was amended to provide a weak and non-binding consent mechanism for amendments (equivalent to the Sewel Convention) to the list of exemptions. The result is that, while the devolved governments retain regulatory competences, these are undermined by the fact that goods and services originating in, or imported into, England can be marketed anywhere.
- S2CID 248929397.
UK Internal Market Act 2020 imposed new restrictions on the ability of the devolved institutions to enact measures...mutual recognition and non-discrimination requirements mean that standards set by the legislatures in Wales and Scotland cannot restrict the sale of goods which are acceptable in other parts of the UK. In other words, imposing such measures would simply create competitive disadvantages for businesses in Wales and Scotland; they would not change the product standards or environmental protections applicable to all goods which can be purchased in Wales and Scotland.
- S2CID 232050477.
That phase of joint working was significantly damaged by the UK Internal Market Act, pushed through by the Johnson government in December 2020...the Act diminishes the authority of the devolved institutions, and was vehemently opposed by them.
- . Retrieved 18 April 2021.
the Internal Market Bill—a Bill that contains provisions which, if enacted, would significantly constrain, both legally and as a matter of practicality, the exercise by the devolved legislatures of their legislative competence; provisions that would be significantly more restrictive of the powers of the Scottish Parliament than either EU law or Articles 4 and 6 of the Acts of the Union...The UK Parliament passed the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and the Internal Market Act 2020 notwithstanding that, in each case, all three of the devolved legislatures had withheld consent.
- ^ doi:10.1080/21622671.2021.1921613., responsible for many of the leading judgments relating to the first two decades of devolution, regarded the legislation's terms as deliberately confrontational: 'this Parliament can do what it likes, but a different approach is essential if the union is to hold together'.
Taken as a whole, the Internal Market Act imposes greater restrictions upon the competences of the devolved institutions than the provisions of the EU Single Market which it replaced, in spite of pledges to use common frameworks to address these issues. Lord Hope
- PMID 36518972.
The market access principles may not preclude the devolved administrations from legislating in the same way that, for example, the Devolution Acts make it unlawful (ultra vires) for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly to enact legislation [that] is contrary to Convention rights. Nonetheless, their prospective application under the UKIMA imposes significant practical limits on their political autonomy in areas of devolved competence—limits that the dominance of the far larger English market further reinforce.
- .
So when used to disapply relevant requirements in a destination devolved jurisdiction the effect is different from that generated by the devolution statutes when they treat rules that are outside of competence as being 'not law'. In this way, the legislative competence of each jurisdiction is formally maintained, but its exercise constrained by the extraterritorial reach of regulatory norms applicable elsewhere in the UK and by the potential for regulatory competition where local producers are subject to local rules but competing goods can enter that market in compliance with the regulatory standards from where they originate
- ^ a b c Lydgate, Emily (23 September 2020). Dr Emily Lydgate, University of Sussex: Evidence on the UK internal market bill. Finance and Constitution Committee (Report). Edinburgh: Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. 21st Meeting 2020, Session 5. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
In that context, even though the new powers might not be used, I expect that the UK Government wants the legislation to be in place before those statutory instruments come into force, in case the common frameworks fall apart. What we are seeing is the UK Government responding to a threat by trying to centralise power or create a system that will function in case there is a problem...For example, England might authorise a new active substance for pesticides, or a new GMO, and would then be able to freely export those products to devolved nations, even if they had controls domestically. In so doing, England could competitively undercut producers and in effect undermine permitted divergence.
- ^ Alibhai, Zaina (21 November 2021). "Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru approve co-operation deal". i. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ Webster, Laura (22 November 2021). "Labour and Plaid Cymru agree Welsh government co-operation deal". The National. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
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- ^ Masters, Adrian (26 March 2022). "Plaid Cymru members back Senedd expansion at party conference vote". ITV News. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
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- ^ Deans, David (11 May 2022). "Senedd reform: Plans for more politicians 'could freeze out Lib Dems'". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
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- Labour and Co-operativeMSs.
- coalition agreement, and Plaid Cymru continues as an opposition party outside the agreed areas.