How an Assembly committee is investigating relations between institutions.
The Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee is undertaking an inquiry into inter-institutional working in order:
- To produce best practice principles for inter-institutional working for constitutional legislation.
- To reflect and build on the work of other legislatures on inter-institutional working as it relates to broader policy areas.
- To seek, establish and promote opportunities for inter-parliamentary working, including promotion of citizen engagement.
The inquiry is focusing on two strands: Constitutional Matters and Policy Matters. The Committee is currently looking at Strand I: Constitutional matters.
It is reviewing how inter-institutional relations have influenced development of Welsh devolution since the Assembly was set up in 1999. This includes looking at:
- How intergovernmental mechanisms have impacted on the development of the devolution settlement.
- How intergovernmental relations have developed and evolved, what worked well and the impact these relations have had on the devolution settlement.
- How inter-parliamentary relations have evolved, the current state of these relations and how they could be further developed in relation to the development and scrutiny of constitutional legislation.
The Committee has been hearing from key players in the development of devolution in the past 18 years. It has heard from Lord Murphy, who was Secretary of State on two occasions – see our graphic on the Governance of Wales. At the last meeting the Committee heard from Baroness Randerson, who has been a Minister in the Welsh Government and in the Wales Office, and Elfyn Llwyd, former Leader of Plaid Cymru in Westminster. The Committee has also heard evidence from Sir Paul Silk who headed up the Silk Commission which played a part in the most recent devolution Act, the Wales Act 2017.
On Monday 20 March the Committee, as part of #SeneddNewport, is meeting in the University of South Wales, Newport and will be taking evidence from the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM as part of the inquiry. He will also be questioned about the white paper on Wales leaving the EU, Securing Wales’ Future. The meeting begins at 2.30pm and is open to the public.
The Committee has launched a public consultation to seek views on the inquiry. The deadline for responses is 5 June 2017.
Article by Dr Alys Thomas National Assembly for Wales Research Service.
This post is also available as a print-friendly PDF: A Stronger Voice for Wales: First Minister to give evidence (PDF, 121KB)
