Transport
Strategic planning and development of cross-border co-operation (while co-operation would primarily arise in respect of road and rail planning, it would take account of issues arising in the port and airport sectors), and road and rail safety;
Agriculture
Discussion of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) issues, animal and plant health policy and research and rural development, between North and South;
Education
Education for children with special needs (eg autism, hearing impairment), educational underachievement, teacher qualifications, and school, youth and teacher exchanges on a cross-border basis;
Health
Accident and emergency planning, emergency services, co-operation on high technology equipment, cancer research and health promotion. The Council in the Health and Food Safety Sector considers matters for co-operation in Health as well as considering matters relating to the Food Safety Promotion Board; -see above.
Environment
Research into environmental protection, water quality management and waste management in a cross-border context;
Tourism
A limited company publicly-owned by Bord F?ilte Eireann and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board markets Ireland overseas as a tourism destination It will be known as, Tourism Ireland Limited and will operate under the auspices of the North/South Ministerial Council.
The Agreement appears to have been implemented well but in reality, it is of an immensely subtle construction, a very detailed plan. Such intricacy opens the Agreement to public criticism: Is it a house of cards, vulnerable to the slightest pressure, vulnerable to the rising tide of nationalism? The recent events at Omagh and Drumcree show that these are not foolish concerns.
iii The Welsh Assembly
The Wales Act (1998) created a Welsh Assembly with sixty members using the Additional members system (AMS) as in Scotland. In addition, forty constituency members (These will be the same as the forty Welsh constituencies at Westminster.) are elected by way of the FPTP system and twenty additional members selected from ‘party lists’ in the country’s five electoral regions. These regions are the same as the current European parliamentary boundaries and each will elect four MWAs through AMS. Electors will therefore have two votes on separate ballot papers. One for a candidate in their constituency, (mauve ballot paper) and one for a party list in their region (peach ballot paper). Voters will also be given a white ballot paper, but this is for the separate Welsh local council elections. The proportionality of the Assembly is calculated using the d?Hondt principle
The National Assembly for Wales meets in Cardiff and has the power to develop and implement policy for Wales in the areas of:
?Education
?Health
?Environment
?Economic development
?Local government
?Agriculture
?Fisheries
?Forestry, Water and flood defences;
?Economic development;
?Schools, colleges and training;
?Community development;
?Food;
?Housing;
?Sport and leisure;
?Some transport policy, such as Welsh roads;
?Arts, culture and the Welsh language.
The assembly can also set performance targets and establish new standards in, for example, the NHS in Wales. However, unlike the Scottish parliament, it cannot make laws and it has no tax-raising powers. It can also “do anything it considers appropriate” to support certain aspects of Welsh culture – museums, libraries, recreation and the Welsh language. Members of the assembly will also be able to make speeches in Welsh.
Keeping in line with the principle of devolution, Westminster has retained a number of powers to remain under Sovereign Government control. These are:
?The constitution
?Defence
?Foreign affairs
?Electricity
?Coal
?Oil and gas
?Nuclear energy
?Employment
?Financial and economic matters
?Social security
The actual power that the Welsh Assembly holds in comparison to the other Assemblies is very small, it cannot implement an issue without the approval from Westminster. Once Westminster has decided that the matter is appropriate to Wales, the Secretary of State for Wales issues a “concordat” defining what the assembly can discuss. The assembly is entitled to dispute the concordat, for example if it considers it should be allowed to make representation about a wider range of issues. Once it has approved the concordat, the assembly can go on to debate the issue in Wales.
Indeed there are many positive points regarding the Welsh Assembly but there have also been some complications regarding:
?Deputy First Minister Michael German
?Soaring costs of Assembly building
Deputy First Minister Michael German
The Michael German incident was an embarrassing episode in the Welsh Assembly?s short history. Mr German MWA had been forced to resign from his senior post in the Assembly due to an ongoing police investigation into claims that he misused a credit card when running an examinations body. The inquiry will centre on the period in which Mr German was head of the European unit of the Welsh joint education committee (WJEC) exam board. There are allegations the unit overspent on overseas trips. The humiliation of the Assembly and Mr German does not stop, as, last year an independent audit of the unit by ?PricewaterhouseCoopers? said the WJEC might have to repay ?430,000 to the European Union. Another independent review by auditors ?Bentley Jennison? concluded that the WJEC could, in the event of an audit by the EU, have to pay back more than ?1m.
Soaring costs of Assembly building
Similarly to the events regarding the construction of the Scottish Parliament buildings, the Welsh Assembly has also come under fierce criticism concerning the escalating costs of the Assembly building, which had been planned to sit beneath a gently undulating roof on the edge of Cardiff Bay, at a cost of ?26.6m; latest estimates suggest the final bill could reach ?47m. At present, there is an air of indecision surrounding the project, seriously denting the competency of the Assembly as a major administrative organisation.
British devolution has always been an ideal of many politicians however many scorn the possibilities through an intense fear of a dilution in the power and control held in Central Government. Even hard-line members such as the Right Honourable Lord Biffen has criticised the possibility but at the same time realise its potential and use.
?Britain has never relished doses of constitutional reform, although they have accepted the drip-feed of frequent, unpalatable and ill-fated local government changes. Ambivalence to reform was reinforced in recent decades. The 1974 Labour government proposed an ambitious program of devolution for Scotland and Wales. It was a luckless policy, not least because of Labour?s divisions. Now it is all different. The case for devolution is being argued with renewed vigour.? (Rt. Hon. Lord Biffen)
Nevertheless, one must, due to the advent of devolved power in Britain, analyse its impact on British politics. In the case of the Scottish parliament, already there have been some momentous pieces of legislation past in the chamber that will have a direct effect on Scottish people?s lives. Such significant occurrences have been welcomed by the Scottish public As according to new research one in ten Scots believes Holyrood has a greater impact on their lives than Westminster. This information will be welcomed by the Parliament but it will be important for central government to observe and understand the expectations of the Scottish electorate and answer to their needs accordingly as it is apparent that Westminster?s strangle hold on policy north of the border has been somewhat relaxed since 1998.
However, in the cases of Northern Ireland and Wales the branching power of central government has yet to be shown as dwindling. As a result of recent troubles and complications in both administrations, the respective public opinions of the organisations are not as complimentary as in Scotland, so much so that in Wales, many of residents recognise that their lives would be led better without the hassle of a non-functioning government assembly. The same opinions can be found in Northern Ireland where the fragile nature of the agreement and the complicated structure deny the same fluency of implementation as evident within Scotland.
Nevertheless, in years to come it is almost certain that each administration will gain in power and confidence; their controls will relax and they will emerge from the domineering shadows of Westminster to fulfil destined roles of self-determination.