ABSTRACT
Rather than devolve legislative power to a Welsh Parliament, the Government of Wales Act 1998 provides for a directly elected Assembly which has the responsibilities formerly exercised by the Secretary of State for Wales. The devolution thus conferred administrative rather than legislative power. The government’s White Paper, A Voice for Wales: The Government’s Proposals for a Welsh Assembly,30 perceived a ‘democratic deficit’ in the administrative arrangements for Wales. Until devolution, the majority of administrative matters were the responsibility of the Welsh Office. Other bodies, such as health authorities and National Health Service Trusts, and unelected bodies, such as the Welsh Development Agency, Further and Higher Education Funding Councils and Tai Cymru, were not accountable to the Welsh people. The only directly accountable bodies were local authorities. The devolution of administrative competence to the Welsh Assembly redresses this lack of local accountability.
