Long title | An Act to make provision about the government of Wales. |
---|---|
Citation | 2006 c 32 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 25 July 2006 |
Other legislation | |
Amended by | National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Act 2012, Wales Act 2014, Wales Act 2017 |
Status: Amended
|
|
History of passage through Parliament | |
Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Revised text of statute as amended |
Treaty of Windsor | 1175 |
---|---|
Treaty of York | 1237 |
Treaty of Perth | 1266 |
Treaty of Montgomery | 1267 |
Treaty of Aberconwy | 1277 |
Statute of Rhuddlan | 1284 |
Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton | 1328 |
Treaty of Berwick | 1357 |
Poynings' Law | 1495 |
Laws in Wales Acts | 1535–42 |
Crown of Ireland Act | 1542 |
Treaty of Edinburgh | 1560 |
Union of the Crowns | 1603 |
Union of England and Scotland Act | 1603 |
Act of Settlement | 1701 |
Act of Security | 1704 |
Alien Act | 1705 |
Treaty of Union | 1706 |
Acts of Union | 1707 |
Personal Union of 1714 | 1714 |
Wales and Berwick Act | 1746 |
Irish Constitution | 1782 |
Acts of Union | 1800 |
Government of Ireland Act | 1920 |
Anglo-Irish Treaty | 1921 |
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act | 1927 |
N. Ireland (Temporary Provisions) Act | 1972 |
Northern Ireland Assembly | 1973 |
N. Ireland Constitution Act | 1973 |
Northern Ireland Act | 1998 |
Government of Wales Act | 1998 |
Scotland Act | 1998 |
Government of Wales Act | 2006 |
Scotland Act | 2012 |
Edinburgh Agreement | 2012 |
Wales Act | 2014 |
Scotland Act | 2016 |
Wales Act | 2017 |
The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c 32) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily. The Act creates a system of government with a separate executive drawn from and accountable to the legislature.
The Act has the following provisions:
The bill received Royal assent on 25 July 2006.
Schedule 5 of the Act describes the 20 "Fields" and "Matters" in which the National Assembly for Wales has Legislative competence i.e. the ability to pass Assembly Measures (or, since 2011, Acts). A Field is a broad subject area, such as education and training, the environment, health and health services, highways and transport, or housing. A Matter is a specific defined policy area within a Field.
The Assembly can gain further legislative competence by the amendment of Schedule 5. There are two ways in which this can happen: either as a result of clauses included in legislation passed by an Act of Parliament at Westminster, or by Legislative Competency Orders (LCOs) granted by Parliament in response to a request from the National Assembly itself (LCOs may be proposed by the Welsh Government, or by individual members, or by Assembly Committees, but must be approved by the National Assembly before they can go forward). The result of either method is to amend any of the 20 Fields by inserting specific Matters. The Assembly then has competence to pass legislation on those Matters.
Schedule 5 is regularly updated as result of these two processes. An up-to-date version of the Schedule (which also indicates where amendments are proposed) is available on the National Assembly's website.
The Government of Wales Act 2006 was criticised by Plaid Cymru for not delivering a fully-fledged parliament.