Amid the hoopla over the prospect of policing being devolved to Wales, it is easy to overlook a raft of requests that the Welsh Government made on Monday to the Silk Commission which tread into areas not devoid of controversy.
While the prospect of Wales controlling policing was the banner headline, Ministers and officials are also looking to extend competence in at least 15 new areas – spanning water, ports regulation and vulnerable people, amid others. That doesn’t include its less definitive statements to explore scopes for extending devolution in other sectors, and its longer-term ambitions that include a separate Welsh jurisdiction and criminal justice system.
If granted, some of the seemingly more innocuous and uncontroversial areas have the potential to have a meaningful change in policy compared to across the border.
One of the most obvious examples comes in the form of “large-scale energy generation”, which the Welsh Government want executive responsibility for, but neatly sidestepping the most controversial of all – nuclear.
However, it calls for the granting of powers for every other area of energy generation, which includes hot-potato issues of wind farms , and consent for power stations, with the potential for significant shifts in practice for the future.
As it stands, planning applications for wind turbine projects falls under local council / Welsh Government jurisdiction until it reaches 50MW. Anything above and the UK Government would be responsible for any final decision.
If all matters pertaining to non-nuclear energy became the domain of the Welsh Government, wind farm projects – which Wales has generally been more receptive to than the Tory-led coalition – would apparently still be subject to the controversial “Tan 8” rules, which established seven strategic areas deemed suitable for developing wind energy on a large scale.
Given the epicentre for campaigning and protests against wind farms is located in Mid Wales, where three of the Tan 8 areas are, and that the Welsh Government state in their Silk proposals that the devolution of energy powers would create a system “better placed” to address the challenge of a low-carbon economy, it is conceivable that a wind-friendly government in Cardiff will increase its influence in its energy mix, despite the Welsh Government’s zeal to say its devolution would make decisions “attuned and sensitive” to local issues.
And what of the National Grid? Would the devolution of Wales’ power generation – which would see existing all sources of power fall under its hand – see a scenario of Wales reducing its energy portfolio, electing to “import” from the rest of the UK, thus avoiding the financial burden?
Another unheralded, yet potentially substantial, change would be that of the potential devolution of electoral administration.
Under the government’s plans, responsibility for electoral registration would remain reserved to London, while almost everything else would be granted to Cardiff, meaning that responsibility for boundaries, voting systems and terms of office for councillors, among general admin for elections, would come under the domain of the Assembly.
Few things in politics are regarded with more suspicion than a party’s motives for changing a voting system or electoral boundary. Even with the Welsh Government’s proposed 66% threshold of AMs agreeing to any proposed change to Assembly elections, similar to what’s required to suspend normal Assembly rules at the moment, concentrating power into the hands of those that it directly affects would be a significant move.
Take the rule over standing for a constituency or via the regional list.
As it stands, the Welsh Government is opposed to removing the bar, enshrined in the new Government of Wales Act, on Assembly Members standing for both a constituency and the list (a system that is more friendly to Labour’s electoral fortunes than not), and they must choose one or the other. The coalition government has intimated it may scrap the rule.
If power over electoral law was transferred to Cardiff, which has a near in-built Labour hegemony, would there be a great incentive for Ministers to remove that block? It is unlikely. With that, it maintains a scenario where big beasts from opposition parties have to either choose the risk of attempting to win a constituency, against the notorious volatility of the regional list. For further reading, see the political tombstones of Nick Bourne, Helen Mary Jones and Jonathan Morgan.
It also invites the prospect of the recent row over Westminster political boundary changes in reverse. With electoral registration reserved to the UK Government, the scenario where people are registered to vote in a system administered from London, but categorised into constituencies (and potentially regions) in Cardiff Bay, rears its head.
Would a wish from Cardiff to change its boundaries be heeded by a UK Government hostile to the plans, for example? Would London countenance any change to the voting system in Welsh local Assembly elections if it meant separate elections, with different voting systems, occurring on the same day? It, at the moment, isn’t clear.
Another small area, but with everyday consequences, that was tucked away in the announcement is road safety powers, which encompass drink-drive and speed limits.
Its an area which the current Welsh Government has been fairly clear on – it would like to see 20mph zones rolled out across Wales, for example. Their proliferation has, until now, been left in the domain of local authorities, but earlier this month the Welsh Government supported an Assembly debate which passed a motion calling for their increase in areas in Wales, which gives you an idea of its view on the matter.
The UK Government launched a consultation on raising the national speed limit on motorways from 70 to 80 miles per hour. Given the current Welsh Government’s (and most opposition AMs’) rhetoric on road casualties, it seems unlikely that would be supported in Wales’ side of the border. This raises the prospect of cross-border differences
Wales already has jurisdiction over dealing with alcohol misuse (in devolved areas of health), so the Welsh Government sees the devolution of both licensing alcohol and drink-drive limits as a natural extension of its existing powers.
It is therefore conceivable that a Welsh Government, looking critically at Wales’ position in alcohol abuse “leagues” and ill-health performance, would adopt a stricter approach to both. He who can legally drive in Hereford may lose that in Monmouth.
Interconnectivity being what it is – these three areas alone must necessitate any devolution of powers must anticipate and smooth out the ruffles that would be created over the border to be implemented. Policing is not alone in that respect.