ESRC Research Programme on
Devolution and Constitutional Change

 

Devolution in Wales: The Scorecard
A One Day Conference on the Findings of the
ESRC Devolution and Constitutional Change Programme

Hilton Hotel, Cardiff, 24 June 2004. 09.15 - 17.30
(The Conference will be followed by a Reception)

Programme (PDF)

 

Five years on from the opening of the National Assembly for Wales devolution is making its mark. The Welsh public supports devolution much more strongly now than in 1997 when the majority for devolution was wafer-thin, and many would like to see a more powerful Assembly.

And despite a complex division of labour between Wales and Westminster, the Assembly has begin to deliver distinctive policies and to mark out different priorities to those across the border in England. Yet there are still uncertainties and problems. Lord Richard's Commission recommended in March major reforms to the powers of the Assembly and to the way it is elected.

The National Assembly is perhaps over-dependent on Westminster to get things done. The complexity of decision-making makes it difficult for ordinary people to get a sense of ownership of what is being done in their names. It is debatable whether the Assembly has a secure long-term funding base. And public awareness about the work of the Assembly is still too low, as is turnout in Assembly elections.

Our 'Scorecard' conference will give a comprehensive assessment of the successes and problems of devolution in Wales.

• It will report on work done in a multi-million pound programme of research on devolution across the UK which has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
  
  
• It will evaluate how effective the Assembly is as a decision-making body, dissect the new policies it has brought in, analyse the constraints on its further development, and set out what the public think about the Assembly and why.
  
  
• The First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, will add his own thoughts on what the Assembly has been able to do so far, and where it goes from here.

This will add up to the most comprehensive evaluation of devolution so far. The conference is a must for decision-makers and analysts in public administration and local government in Wales, for the voluntary sector, for journalists working on Wales, and for academics.