Government of Wales Act 1998
| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act to establish and make provision about the National Assembly for Wales and the offices of Auditor General for Wales and Welsh Administration Ombudsman; to reform certain Welsh public bodies and abolish certain other Welsh public bodies; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 1998 c. 38 |
| Introduced by | Ron Davies MP, Secretary of State for Wales (Commons) Lord Williams of Mostyn Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 31 July 1998 |
| Commencement | various[b] |
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Status: Partially repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| Text of the Government of Wales Act 1998 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk. | |
The Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38; Welsh: Deddf Llywodraeth Cymru 1998)[1] is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Passed in 1998, the act created the National Assembly for Wales, Auditor General for Wales and transferred devolved powers to the assembly. The act followed the 1997 Welsh devolution referendum.
A bound version of the act was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the opening ceremony of the National Assembly for Wales at Crickhowell House.[2]
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Provisions
The act brought about the then National Assembly for Wales as a corporate body.[3]
Under the 1998 act, the Welsh Assembly received powers to legislate on powers previously held by the Secretary of State for Wales. Powers included agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food; ancient monuments and historic buildings; culture (including museums, galleries and libraries); economic development; education and training; the environment; health and health services; highways; housing; industry; local government; social services; sport and recreation; tourism; town and country planning; transport; water and flood defence; the Welsh language.[4]
The act also established the Auditor General for Wales and the Welsh Administration Ombudsman and also gave the National Assembly for Wales the ability to reorganise some Welsh public bodies.[3]
Bill provisions
On 26 November 1997, the Government of Wales Bill was first read in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. This followed the white paper policy objectives in further legal detail and added the "First Secretary" role to lead the executive committee of a "National Assembly" (rather than "Assembly for Wales"). The Assembly would be an independent "corporate body" able to make secondary legislation in devolved areas whereas primary legislation powers would stay at Westminster for all matters.The Welsh Assembly would be funded using a "block grant" similarly to the already existing Welsh Office using the Barnett formula.[5]
Welsh Assembly elections would include one vote for a constituency Assembly Member (AM) and one regional vote of Wales's five electoral regions. There would be 40 constituency AM's were elected "first past the post" and 20 "list" AMs were elected via the D'Hondt method.[5]
Clause 34 of the bill would allow the Assembly to consider “any matter affecting Wales” and a mechanism for potential further transfer of powers to allow the "process" of devolution to continue as suggested by Ron Davies.[5]
The bill became an act on 31 July 1998 and, on 1 July 1999, the Welsh Office was replaced with the "Wales Office".[5]
The bill allowed the records of devolved public bodies to be stored in Wales.[6]
The bill did not give the assembly primary legislative powers.[7]
Amendments
The Government of Wales Act 2006 made several amendments to the act, including primary legislative powers.[7]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Torrance, David (3 October 2025). "Devolution in Wales: "A process, not an event"". commonslibrary.parliament.uk.
- ^ "Royal celebration for Wales". BBC News. 26 May 1999. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2025.
- ^ a b "Government of Wales Act 1998 | Law Wales". law.gov.wales. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ Watkin, Thomas Glyn (2007). The Legal History of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-7083-2064-8.
- ^ a b c d Torrence, David (30 January 2023). "Devolution in Wales: "A process, not an event"" (PDF). pp. 14–15.
- ^ "DAVIES ANNOUNCES KEY CHANGES TO GOVERNMENT OF WALES BILL". Local Government Chronicle. 19 March 1998. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ a b Silk, Paul (31 July 2023). "25 Years of Devolution for Wales". Institute for Welsh Affairs. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
External links
- Text of the Government of Wales Act 1998 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
- Text of the Government of Wales Act 1998 as originally enacted or made within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.
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