Wales lacks parity with Celtic nations
BOTH Scotland and smaller N. Ireland had relatively straightforward, sensible, devolution settlements, with an appropriate number of politicians. However, Wales had a dreadfully inadequate settlement, with a correspondingly low number of AMs.
It has been, and still is, a tortuous battle to get parity of powers with our Celtic cousins. We have half the number of governing members that most small countries have. Our small number of AMs cannot cope with careful scrutiny of detailed draft legislation and the increased workload as more powers are slowly transferred to Wales. The recent McAllister commission recognised these problems and has strongly recommended a significant increase in the number of AMs.
We used to have eight counties – a sensible, effective number for a small country. However, Colonial Governor-General John Redwood changed this to 22 unitary authorities – a ridiculously high number, proportionally, compared to our UK neighbours and many other countries. The heavyweight Richard commission strongly advocated returning to a small number of authorities, noting that this would also lead to significant, long-term cost savings. Tough Leighton Andrews pressed this case strongly, but when he stood down as an AM, the Assembly’s will wilted and it caved in. Not only do we still have 22 local authorities, but we effectively also have 22 education boards.
Other examples of our governance being too high include the following:
Wales has four police authorities, whereas Scotland, with a much larger population, has one;
We have 40 Westminster MPs – proposed, but unlikely, boundary changes would reduce this number; Yes, Wales will lose its four MEPs after Brexit, but we will need such people with EU experience to deal with the probable negative impact on Wales post-Brexit.
The Welsh public tacitly accept their financial contribution to, firstly, the archaic House of Lords, and secondly, to the proposed multi-billion restoration/renewal costs for the Houses of Parliament, but I doubt that they would be willing to accept the relatively modest sum for AM parity with other countries unless we have a far better governance situation. The Richard commission’s sensible recommendations were kicked into the long grass – will the same happen to the McAllister commission’s report?
Gareth Davies Alltwen