Government of Wales Act 1998
The Government of Wales Act 1998 established the National Assembly for Wales following the 1997 devolution referendum in which 50.3% of Welsh voters approved. Unlike the Scottish Parliament, the Assembly initially had only secondary legislative powers, able to modify primary legislation only within tightly defined areas. The Assembly consisted of 60 members elected by the Additional Member System. The Act transferred executive functions from the Secretary of State for Wales to the Assembly, which could then delegate them to the Welsh Assembly Government. The initial devolution settlement was described as ’executive devolution’ as opposed to the ’legislative devolution’ granted to Scotland.
Legal area: Constitutional law establishes the framework of government and the fundamental principles by which a state is governed, including the relationship between different branches of government and the rights of citizens.
Citation: Government of Wales Act 1998 (1998 c 38)
Full text: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/38
Key Provisions
- Part I: Establishment of the National Assembly for Wales
- Part II: Assembly’s executive functions transferred from Secretary of State
- Section 21: Assembly to establish a Welsh Assembly Government
- Section 106: Requirement for sustainable development
- Schedule 2: Areas in which Assembly could exercise secondary legislative powers
- Part IV: Assembly procedures and standing orders
Significance
The Government of Wales Act 1998 created the first democratically elected Welsh political institution since the 15th century. Its limited powers were substantially expanded by the Government of Wales Act 2006, which granted primary legislative powers through Assembly Measures, and the Wales Act 2017, which moved to a reserved powers model. The Act was criticised for the complexity of its conferred powers model and for creating confusion about the boundary between Welsh and UK legislative competence. The Act’s creation of the Welsh Assembly Government (later renamed the Welsh Government) established the foundations of Welsh self-government.