Latest news with #SeneddCymru
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What does the Senedd do?
Voters in Wales will head to the polls for the next Senedd election on 7 May 2026. But what exactly is the Senedd, and what does it do? Here's a brief guide. First up - what's devolution? Devolution refers to the transfer of powers from one level of decision-making to a level which is closer to the voter. In 1997 people in Wales voted narrowly in favour of moving certain responsibilities from Westminster to Cardiff Bay through the establishment of the National Assembly for Wales, which opened in 1999. Initially, the assembly's powers were fairly limited. However, over the years further responsibilities have made their way down the M4 including full law-making powers in a number of areas such as health, education, transport, rural affairs, and the environment. The ability to raise and vary certain taxes has also now been transferred to Cardiff, and the national assembly has been renamed as the Welsh Parliament or Senedd Cymru. Other areas such as defence, benefits, foreign affairs and major rail infrastructure remain in Westminster. Leaders of the Yes campaign celebrate the result of the 1997 referendum [BBC] What's the difference between the Welsh government and the Welsh Parliament? The Welsh government oversees the running of many public services in Wales, including health, education, and transport. It also takes decisions with regard to rural affairs, the environment, and local councils. The government consists of a team of cabinet secretaries and ministers led by the first minister. Each cabinet secretary is responsible for a different policy area. The government is usually formed by the party that won the most seats at the previous election. Up to now, that party has always been Labour. However, Labour has never managed to win more than half the 60 seats up for grabs and so the party has always had to strike a deal with another party in order to get its policies – and crucially, its budget - through. Sometimes this has involved members of other parties joining the government to work alongside Welsh Labour ministers. The Welsh Parliament, or Senedd Cymru, is made up of all the politicians elected to Cardiff Bay. Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh government's work, including proposed new laws that ministers bring forward. It is led by the presiding officer, also called the Llywydd, whose job it is to keep order during debates. Before any new laws are passed, they must be voted through by a majority of Members of the Senedd (MS). Welsh Parliament, or Senedd Cymru, is responsible for scrutinising the Welsh government's work [Getty Images] What's the difference between an MS and an MP? An MS - Member of the Senedd - sits in Cardiff Bay scrutinising the work of the Welsh government led by the first minister. An MP - Member of Parliament - sits in the House of Commons in Westminster scrutinising the work of the UK government led by the prime minister. Wales has 32 MPs. How much money does the Welsh government spend? The Welsh government's budget is worth around £26bn for 2025-26. Most of that money - some £21bn - comes as a grant from the UK government. The rest comes via taxes that the Welsh government itself raises. The Welsh government also gets extra money - described as consequential funding - when the UK government decides to spend more money on areas such as health and education in England. How are things changing in 2026? The are big changes coming to way the Senedd is elected [Getty Images] The number of MSs will increase at the next election - from 60 to 96. The way they are elected and the number of constituencies will also change. The reforms have been controversial. Supporters say more politicians are needed to reflect the extra responsibilities the Senedd now has compared to when it was set up. However, critics believe the changes are a waste of money which would be better spent on stretched public services, such as health, social services, and education.
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Wales's 20mph speed limit has cut road deaths. Why is there still even a debate?
Even with the caveats about limited data and untangling causation and correlation, the statistics are striking: the first year of a scheme in Wales where the speed limit on urban roads was lowered to 20mph resulted in about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured. Introduced in September 2023 as a major road safety project of the Labour-run Welsh government, it made 20mph the default limit for any built-up area, defined as roads where lamp-posts were no more than about 180 metres apart. This took in about a third of all roads, with the Conservative opposition saying the definition was far too broad. At the time, other controversies were raging over roads policies, including low-traffic neighbourhoods and the expansion of London's ultra-low emission zone – a culture war embraced by some Tory politicians. Countering this, increasingly, is hard evidence. While Welsh government statisticians warn that at least three years' data will be needed for a meaningful conclusion, the road casualty figures – showing an estimated 10 fewer deaths and a nearly one-third drop in overall casualties – follow research from insurers indicating that 20mph zones appear to be bringing down the number of claims. Peter Fox, who covers transport issues for the Conservatives in the Senedd Cymru, insists his worries about 20mph zones are not about the general idea, just how it was implemented, with the lower limit taken as the standard for built-up streets. 'None of us are against 20mph around schools, busy residential areas, or anywhere where there's quite a lot of pedestrian footfall,' he said. 'But we didn't need to change the default position.' Lee Waters, who was transport minister in the Labour-run Welsh government when the policy was introduced, has called it 'the most successful road safety intervention in modern times'. But even he concedes that with retrospect it could have been done differently. 'You have to apply the sniff test,' he said. 'If someone is being asked to drive at 20mph and it doesn't make sense as to why, you have a problem. There wasn't sufficient capacity or willingness locally to use the flexibility within the guidance, to apply it on a place-specific basis.' This was subsequently addressed in Welsh government guidance to councils to help them identify areas where 20mph schemes were inappropriate and the speed limit widely flouted. Officials say this assessment process is coming to an end, and changes have been made. Now 20mph zones are being proposed and implemented beyond Wales, and not just from Labour politicians. Cornwall council, in south-west England, which is run by the Conservatives, began a programme of reducing speed limits to 20mph in urban areas in 2022, and it is still being expanded. Connor Donnithorne, the councillor who leads on transport matters in Cornwall, said their policy had been different to Wales, including a more targeted approach and a focus on encouraging people to reduce their speed using signs rather than enforcing it with cameras. 'The idea is to do all this in a pragmatic way,' he said. 'The issue is that if you force people to go 20mph on a road where it doesn't make sense, it's very difficult to change driver behaviour and patterns. That's why we've worked very hard with the highways team to make sure that it is done in the right places, because that brings the community along with us.' For all the progress, a key question remains: as more and more evidence arrives, why is all this still even a debate? As Waters puts it: 'There is still this idea that 70 or so road deaths a year in Wales is acceptable. But we would never accept 70 deaths a year on the ferry to Ireland, or on buses.' Some argue that it is because of what is called motornormativity, an idea devised by Ian Walker, a professor of environmental psychology at Swansea University. This sets out that car ownership and use is so ubiquitous that people are all too often unable to think beyond it. One result, he argues, is that people implicitly accept deaths and injuries on the roads as this is seen as essentially random, and so in a curious way almost fair, when in fact the odds are notably worse for pedestrians and cyclists. 'This isn't generally done in bad faith,' Walker said. 'It's just a very car-centric mindset of thinking the risk is distributed equally, when for some it's much higher and systemic.' Another aspect of Walker's research has an even more pertinent lesson for politicians: policies such as 20mph zones are often more popular than people think. A study he led, based in the UK, US and the Netherlands, found that two-thirds of people believed they personally supported non-car travel more than the public at large. This is an example of a social-psychological phenomenon called pluralistic ignorance, where people automatically assume the consensus must differ from their own views. In this case, it seemingly happens 'because people rarely see changes to the car-first status quo being seriously discussed or supported, let alone implemented', Walker argues. As such, he says, consultations on 20mph zones tend to be dominated by dissent, with supporters silent as they assume they are in the minority. There is, perhaps, a lesson here for politicians, although not an easy one: sometimes it can be best to ignore the noisiest voices, and take the evidence-based course.
Sky News
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Senedd committee warns against making lying in Welsh parliament a criminal offence
A Senedd committee has warned against making lying in the Welsh parliament a criminal offence. It comes after the Welsh government committed to introduce legislation which would ban members of the Welsh parliament from deliberately deceiving. But the Senedd 's standards committee, which the government asked to look into the matter, has concluded that members who lie on purpose should not be criminalised. "We had some significant concerns about the risks outlined to the committee in the evidence it received of introducing a criminal offence," it said in its report. The committee does, however, recommend broadening section 75 of the draft Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order, which would make it an offence for election candidates to make any deliberately deceptive statements. Former Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price put forward his party's motion in July last year, arguing that trust in politicians had "fallen to an all-time low". But before it went to a vote, the Welsh government's then counsel general, Mick Antoniw, said the government was "committed to the principle" and said it would introduce legislation ahead of the next Senedd election in 2026. Concerns had been raised by some members on the impact of such proposals on parliamentary privilege. The report comes after the committee last month suggested introducing a mechanism to unseat members of the Senedd found to have breached its code of conduct. In the report, published on Wednesday, the committee concludes it was "not convinced" that a new criminal offence would restore "trust in the system". "Our view is that the risks and the unintended consequences currently outweigh the benefits," the committee added. The committee said the perceived risks included the "considerable existing strain on the justice system", the right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights and the "difficulties of proving that a statement is false". Instead, the committee recommends the Welsh government strengthen the existing standards procedures for members of the Senedd. This includes a clear definition of deliberate deception and changing the code of conduct to explicitly state that members "must not make deliberately misleading statements". A Welsh government spokesperson said the committee had "produced a detailed and thorough report into deliberate deception as part of its inquiry into member accountability".
The Guardian
10-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Wales is the land of song. Now it's being silenced by cuts that threaten our culture
What is a nation? There are several, varying definitions, but ultimately it comes down to the same answer: a large group of people bound together through shared culture, history and language. For us in Cymru, the idea of a Welsh nation is something about which we are pretty sensitive and protective. Our most provocative historian, Gwyn Alf Williams, said that Wales has 'from birth … lived with the threat of extinction' and that the survival of Welsh nationhood is 'one of the minor miracles of history'. To those of you who mainly know Wales through the occasional holiday, the Six Nations and Gareth Bale, this might sound an odd thing to say. After all, whenever you see Wales or Welsh people represented anywhere they are loudly and unequivocally, well, Welsh. But this is not merely an expression of pride; it is a necessity. Wales is a nation of just over 3 million people bordering a country of 57 million, so there is an ever present risk that we could be swallowed up and amalgamated. Our nation didn't even have a capital city until Cardiff was named in 1955. This insecurity about our own existence is summed up in the chorus of the song Yma o Hyd, which is sung before Welsh international football matches: 'Ry'n ni yma o hyd / Er gwaetha pawb a phopeth.' This translates as: 'We are still here, in spite of everyone and everything.' Back in 1997, Wales voted for devolution, and the Welsh assembly was created in 1999. This officially became the Welsh parliament (Senedd Cymru) in 2020. One of the overriding motivations for devolution was that it would protect Wales and Welsh nationhood. It came with the promise that the future development of our nation would be in our hands and safeguarded. However, the emptiness of this promise has been laid bare by a system that is in many ways the worst of both worlds. Wales is left with a UK government that feels it can wash its hands of responsibility for us, while successive Welsh governments have seemingly lacked the talent, drive or fiscal levers to make Wales better. If you want an example of this, look no further than the truly awful position of culture within Wales. The numbers are stark. A recent Senedd committee report found that Wales ranks second from bottom, among selected European countries, in terms of cultural services spending for each person. Only Greece was lower. Even from the miserly wider UK perspective, Wales's cultural spend is pitiful. Cymru spends £69.68 a person for cultural services, compared with the UK's £91.12. For context, Spain spends about £113, Ireland £149, Belgium £209 and France £237. Iceland tops the table at £691.60. In sport, it is just as bad: Wales spends £5 to £6 a head; by contrast, Ireland spends £27.50. It wasn't always this way. Welsh cultural budgets have been slashed over the last decade. Between 2014/15 and 2024/25, funding for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales has declined by 34% in real terms. Sport Wales has seen a 9% fall, the Books Council of Wales's total income has reduced by 20% and revenue funding for the Arts Council of Wales reduced in real terms by 29%. It is heartbreaking to see how these cuts manifest themselves day to day across Cymru. Just last weekend, the National Museum Cardiff announced it was temporarily closing its doors because of the building's deteriorating condition. It has since reopened, but still, events tell a story. Only nine months before, the Welsh culture secretary gave assurances the building would remain open. National Youth Arts Wales, which is an umbrella organisation for the likes of the National Youth Choir and National Youth Theatre (and where Michael Sheen, Matthew Rhys, Ruth Jones and Rakie Ayola started their journeys) has railed against the 'shameful' state of youth arts funding in Wales. The situation has become such that Sheen last month funded the launch of the Welsh National Theatre after the National Theatre Wales 'ceased to exist' following £1.6m in cuts to its core funding from Arts Council of Wales. There is a wider issue here for Wales because the arts is also a vital way in which the Welsh language is promoted. Going back to that definition of what it is to be a 'nation', a key part of it is shared culture and language. These cuts are not merely tragic because they rob individuals of all the benefits that come with the arts; they are also robbing Wales of a major part of what makes it a nation. That the National Museum Cardiff building was closed because of its dilapidated state encapsulates this very issue. Its construction in 1912 began as part of a huge nation-building programme within Wales. It was about making Wales distinct. At the time, legislation covering England and Wales didn't say 'England and Wales' as it does now; it simply read 'England' (this didn't change till the 1950s). To be a nation and not merely an appendage of England, it was felt you needed a museum. Now, 25 years into devolution, it is crumbling due to lack of funds. The blame for this sorry state of affairs lies in several places. Since the onset of Tory austerity in 2010, successive Welsh Labour governments have had to reallocate money into a struggling health service, which has to contend with a population that is older, sicker and more spread out than in England. But the Welsh Labour government must not be given a pass on this. If they were acting in the theatre, their performance as the stewards of Wales's culture would have been lampooned and derided for totally lacking in believability. While they have been dealt a tough hand financially, there are failings that they must own. Last weekend I published the contents of a leaked internal report from within the 'cultural division' inside the Welsh government, which surveyed the views of staff. This included condemnation of the alleged lack of 'real performance management taking place' within the government, meaning that 'managers who may not wish to have difficult conversations can avoid them and therefore staff who are not performing 'get away' with it'. It also found that staff felt 'there was no sense of strategic long term planning' and there was 'a widely held view that ministers' expectations are not being managed'. It is woeful that this is the department charged with overseeing culture in Wales. When you erode Welsh culture you erode Wales. The arts are not a 'nice to have'; they are vital. Urgent change is needed or else the land of song risks being finally silenced. Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist
