ABSTRACT
Following the 1997 referendum, the Welsh voted in favour of devolution by a very small majority, compared to the much stronger vote for devolution in both Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the Welsh Assembly came into existence in 1999. One of the key changes that occurred as a result of political devolution was that national governments became responsible for designing their planning activities in the areas for which they held power, in the main health, education, housing, culture, local government and the economy. Each local government receives an annual allocation of funds from the Chancellor, using the Barnett formula (based on headcount), which is then allocated by the Finance Minster of the national government among the various sectors. Hence, devolution has led to a new context in which the Welsh Executive now engages in a full budget cycle involving the preparation and monitoring of its own budget and supportive documentations. Also, the Welsh Executive now produces a host of reports containing various accounting targets, statistics and metrics that have the potential of being deployed by members of the new assemblies, external bodies and the public.
