An overview of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
The Government of Wales Act 2006 (the 2006 Act) changed the role of the (then) National Assembly of Wales, so that it became a fully-fledged legislature.
The 2006 Act also set up the Welsh Assembly Government (now known as the Welsh Government) as the devolved executive for Wales.
The executive functions of the National Assembly were transferred to the Welsh Ministers. The Welsh Ministers are members of the Welsh Government and hold most of its functions. The 2006 Act also gave the Welsh Government important general powers. These included:
- a power to do things to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of Wales
- a power to support culture, including the Welsh language
The 2006 Act also allows more powers in respect of Wales to be transferred from the UK Government to the Welsh Government.
The 2006 Act originally gave the National Assembly the power to pass Assembly Measures on certain matters. Assembly Measures have the status of primary legislation, like Acts of Parliament.
Schedule 5 to the 2006 Act set out the matters on which the (then) National Assembly could pass Measures. Although there were a relatively small number of matters in Schedule 5 when the 2006 Act was passed, more were added by later UK legislation.
Twenty two Assembly Measures were passed between 2007 and 2011. These included the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011. Assembly Measures kept their legal effect and status after the Assembly gained the power to pass Assembly Acts.
The 2006 Act also gave the National Assembly the power to pass Acts, but only after there had been a “Yes” vote by the people of Wales in a referendum. This referendum took place in 2011. Such Acts also have the status of primary legislation but can relate to a wider range of devolved areas than Assembly Measures could.
Under the initial conferred powers model, the devolved subjects were set out in Schedule 7 to the 2006 Act. The Wales Act 2017 repealed parts of the 2006 Act. The 2017 Act replaced the conferred powers model with the reserved powers model. However, the Senedd’s power to make Acts of the Senedd continues. This is now provided for in section 108A of the 2006 Act, and in Schedules 7A and 7B to the Act.
The 2006 Act also contains provisions about the finances of the Senedd and the Welsh Government.