Welsh Government

Welsh Government
Llywodraeth Cymru

Logo of the Welsh Government
Government overview
Formed 1999
Jurisdiction Wales
Headquarters Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff
Employees 5,500
Annual budget £14.9 billion (2013/14)
Minister responsible The Rt Hon. Carwyn Jones, AM,
First Minister
Government executive Sir Derek Jones, KCB, Permanent Secretary
Website www.gov.wales

The Welsh Government (Welsh: Llywodraeth Cymru) is the executive branch of the devolved government in Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the Welsh people and makes laws for Wales. The National Assembly was created by the Government of Wales Act 1998.

The Welsh Government and the National Assembly for Wales were established as separate institutions under the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Government is referred to in that Act as the Welsh Assembly Government, but to prevent confusion about the respective roles and responsibilities of the National Assembly and the Government, the devolved administration became known as the Welsh Government in May 2011,[1] following the precedent set by the renaming of the Scottish Government in 2007. The new name was formalised in law in the Wales Act 2014.

The Welsh Government consists of the First Minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly for Wales; up to twelve ministers and deputy ministers, appointed by the First Minister; and a Counsel General, nominated by the First Minister and approved by the National Assembly.

The current First Minister is Carwyn Jones, formally appointed by the Queen on 12 May 2011, who appointed ten ministers and deputy ministers. The Counsel General is Theodore Huckle QC.

1999 to 2007 (Executive Committee of the National Assembly)

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As initially established, the Welsh Government had no independent executive powers in law (unlike, for instance, the Scottish Ministers and Ministers in the UK Government). The National Assembly was established as a body corporate by the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the executive, as a committee of the Assembly, only had those powers that the Assembly as a whole voted to delegate to Ministers.

The Government of Wales Act 2006 formally separated the legislature (National Assembly for Wales) and the Welsh Government, giving Welsh Ministers independent executive authority, this taking effect after the May 2007 elections. Following separation, the Welsh Ministers exercise functions in their own right. Further transfers of executive functions from the UK Government can be made directly to the Welsh Ministers (with their consent) by an Order in Council approved by UK Parliament.

Separation was designed to clarify the respective roles of the legislature and the executive. Under the structures established by the Government of Wales Act 2006, the role of Welsh Ministers is to make decisions; develop and implement policy; exercise executive functions and make statutory instruments. The 60 Assembly Members in the National Assembly scrutinise the Government’s decisions and policies; hold Ministers to account; approve budgets for the Welsh Government’s programmes; and enact Assembly Acts on subjects within devolved legislative competence.

The result mirrored much more closely the relationship between the UK Government and UK Parliament and that between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.

After the 2007 election of the National Assembly for Wales

Legal separation

The new arrangements provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006 created a formal legal separation between the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature comprising the 60 Assembly members, and the Welsh Government, the executive, comprising the First Minister, Welsh Ministers, Deputy Welsh Ministers and the Counsel General. This separation between legislature and executive took effect on the appointment of the First Minister by Her Majesty the Queen following the Assembly election on 3 May 2007.

Separation should help to clarify the respective roles of the legislature and the executive. The role of the executive is now to make decisions; develop and implement policy; exercise executive functions and make statutory instruments. The 60 Assembly members in the National Assembly scrutinise the Welsh Government’s decisions and policies; hold Ministers to account; approve budgets for the Welsh Government’s programmes; and have the power to enact Assembly Measures on certain matters. Assembly Measures can now go further than the subordinate legislation which the Assembly had the power to make prior to 2007.

Transfer of functions

The Assembly’s functions, including those of making subordinate legislation, in the main, transferred to the Welsh Ministers upon separation. A third body was also established under the 2006 Act from May 2007, called the National Assembly for Wales Commission. It is responsible for employing the staff supporting the new National Assembly for Wales and for holding property, entering into contracts and providing support services on its behalf.

Welsh Ministers

The 2006 Act made new provision for the appointment of Welsh Ministers. The First Minister will be nominated by the Assembly and then appointed by Her Majesty the Queen. The First Minister subsequently appoints the Welsh Ministers and the Deputy Welsh Ministers, with the approval of Her Majesty. The Act created a new post of Counsel General for Wales, the principal source of legal advice to the Welsh Government. The Counsel General is appointed by the Queen, on the nomination of the First Minister, whose recommendation will need to be agreed by the National Assembly. The Counsel General may be, but does not have to be, an Assembly Member. The Act permits a maximum of 12 Welsh Ministers, which includes Deputy Welsh Ministers, but excludes the First Minister and the Counsel General. Accordingly, the maximum size of the Welsh Government is 14.

Referendum on law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales

Functions and areas of competence

Following the "yes" vote in the referendum on further law-making powers for the Assembly on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Government is now entitled to propose Bills to the National Assembly for Wales on subjects within 20 fields of policy. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Government of Wales Act 2006, Acts of the National Assembly may make any provision that could be made by Act of Parliament. The 20 areas of responsibility devolved to the National Assembly for Wales (and within which Welsh Ministers exercise executive functions) are:

Office of the First Minister

The Office of the First Minister is in Tŷ Hywel and the Senedd in Cardiff Bay; an office is also kept at the Welsh Government building in Cathays Park where the majority of Cardiff-based Welsh Government civil servants are located.

Offices

The Welsh Government has a total of 35 offices across Wales,[2] with a number in London and overseas.[3] Traditionally, most Welsh Office staff were based in Cardiff, especially in Cathays Park. However, in 2002, the Fullerton Review concluded that "the Assembly could no longer sustain having the majority of its operational functions located in and around Cardiff."[4] Since 2004, Welsh Government civil servants have been relocated across Wales as part of the Location Strategy, which involves the creation of new offices at Merthyr Tydfil, Aberystwyth and Llandudno Junction.[5] In 2006, the mergers of ELWa, the Wales Tourist Board and the Welsh Development Agency into the Welsh Government brought these agencies' offices into the Welsh Government estate.

Current Welsh Government

The old Crown Building in Cathays Park - original home of the Welsh Office.
The New Crown Building is today home to many of the Welsh Government's civil servants.
Tŷ Hywel houses the offices of the cabinet.

The current structure of the ministerial team is formed by Welsh Labour.

Cabinet

Office Name Term Party Image
First Minister Rt. Hon Carwyn Jones AM2011–Labour
Minister for Finance & Government Business Jane Hutt AM2011–Labour
Minister for Economy, Science & Transport Edwina Hart AM2011–Labour
Minister for Education & Skills Huw Lewis AM2013–Labour
Minister for Natural Resources Carl Sargeant AM2011–Labour
Minister for Health & Social Services Mark Drakeford AM2013–Labour
Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty Lesley Griffiths AM2013–Labour
Minister for Public Services Leighton Andrews AM2014–Labour
Office holders given special provisions to attend Cabinet
Chief Whip Janice Gregory AM2011–Labour
Counsel General for Wales Theodore Huckle QC2011–Labour

Deputy Ministers

Office Name TermPartyImage
Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology Julie James AM2014–Labour
Deputy Minister for Culture, Sport and Tourism Ken Skates AM2013–Labour
Deputy Minister for Health Vaughan Gething AM2013–Labour
Deputy Minister for Farming & Food Rebecca Evans AM2014–Labour

Welsh Government Home Civil Service

Permanent Secretary

The Permanent Secretary heads the Civil Service of the Welsh Government and chairs the Strategic Delivery and Performance Board.

The Permanent Secretary is a member of the Home Civil Service, and therefore takes part in the Permanent Secretaries Management Group of the UK Civil Service[6] and is answerable to the most senior civil servant in the UK, the head of the Civil Service, for his professional conduct. He remains, however, at the direction of the Welsh Ministers.

Directorates

The Board

The Board translates the strategic direction set by the Welsh Cabinet and its Committees into work that is joined up across Welsh Government departments and makes the best use of its resources. The Board is made up of 6 Directors General, 2 Directors and 3 Non-executive Directors, and is chaired by the Permanent Secretary.

Board members are appointed at the discretion of and by the Permanent Secretary. Membership is not wholly dependent on functional responsibilities; it is designed to provide balanced advice and support to the Permanent Secretary, and collective leadership to the organisation as a whole.[7]

Position Name
Permanent Secretary Sir Derek Jones KCB
Director General, Finance & Corporate Services Michael Hearty
Director General, Education & Skills Owen Evans
Director General, Economy, Science and Transport James Price
Director General, Health & Social Services and Chief Executive of NHS Wales Dr. Andrew Goodall
Director General, Local Government & Communities Dr. June Milligan
Director General, Natural Resources Gareth Jones OBE
Director, Legal Services Jeff Godfrey
Director, Governance David Richards
Non-Executive Director Elan Closs Stephens
Non-Executive Director James Turner
Non-Executive Director Adrian Webb

Welsh Government sponsored bodies

The Welsh Government is responsible for a number of Welsh Government sponsored bodies (WGSBs). These are, respectively,

WGSBs are staffed by public servants rather than civil servants.

The Welsh Government is also responsible for some public bodies that are not classed as WGSBs, such as NHS Wales, and the Welsh Offices of England and Wales legal offices.

Budget

The Welsh Government receives a budget allocation from the UK Government[8] determined by the Barnett Formula.

See also

References

  1. ↑ BBC News, Wales, 13 May 2011
  2. ↑ "State of the Estate Report 12/13". Welsh Government. 2013-10-31. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
  3. ↑ Welsh Assembly Government | All offices
  4. ↑ Welsh Government | Update on Location Strategy
  5. ↑ Welsh Government | Location Strategy
  6. ↑ Civil Service. PSMG Membership
  7. ↑ Welsh Government | Membership. Wales.gov.uk (2013-03-18). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.
  8. ↑ Welsh Government | Budgets. Wales.gov.uk (2013-07-08). Retrieved on 2013-08-24.

External links