As we all know by now, the solution to every problem in Wales is to form a committee. The more serious committees are called commissions or conventions instead.
The recent announcement of a new Welsh Government-backed constitutional commission chaired by Prof. Laura McAllister and The Rt Rev. Rowan Williams has generated a lot of buzz; given the credentials and profiles of the chairs that’s to be expected. I don’t think there’s any question that this is going to be a serious piece of work even if there’s some confusion over the terms of reference.
Nevertheless, the sobering reality is that Wales is currently averaging a commission to look at the Senedd’s powers, electoral reform or constitutional reform roughly once every three to four years. Yes, that often.
That’s before including the other non-constitutional committees, conventions and commissions – for example, the Diamond Review (student finance), the Senedd-commission review into digital media and the Burns Commission (Newport bypass alternatives).
What everyone needs to keep in mind before they get too excited about the latest commission is the poor track record we have in Wales of turning pages in a report into real things.
- Report: Seemingly no longer available; BBC Wales summary.
- Chaired by: Sir Emyr Jones Parry.
- Tasked with: A national debate on whether Wales should hold a referendum on full law-making powers in devolved policy areas.
It was envisaged that the (then-titled) National Assembly’s limited law-making powers would last “for a generation”. The formation of a Labour-Plaid Cymru Welsh Government in 2007 brought the question over full law-making powers forward far faster than anticipated, just as the UK Government was about to change from Labour to a Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.
The Convention found an element of public confusion over devolved law-making powers and felt granting all law-making powers at once would clear this confusion up and give the Assembly more tools to improve the lives of Welsh citizens. The unofficial “No” campaign – True Wales – argued that it was a step towards the break up of the UK and questioned devolution’s record of delivery.
Outcome: A referendum on full law-making powers in devolved policy areas was held on 3rd March 2011 and was won by the “Yes” side 63.5% to 36.5% – albeit with a low turnout, caused in part by the technical nature of the question and the lack of any official campaigns.
Verdict: Successful.
