Beginner's Guide to the Assembly

If one is to influence policy one must understand the structure within which the Assembly works.

Policy is developed through a Cabinet and a Committee system. In order to understand the relationship between Cabinet and Committee, however, one must understand that the Assembly is divided into two parts:

1) THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES (Legislature)
The 60 member law making body, the legislature. Wales' equivalent to 'Westminster'.

2) THE WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT (Executive)
The 9 Member Cabinet (plus deputy ministers) drawn from within the labour group of the National Assembly. Wales' equivalent to 'Whitehall'.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES:

The National Assembly for Wales is run by the Office of the Presiding Officer
The Presiding Officer is Lord Dafydd Ellis Thomas AM
The Deputy Presiding Officer is Dr John Marek AM

Both served during the first Assembly (although in Dr Marek's case only the latter part of that period), and both were re-elected to their positions for a second term on May 7th 2003.

The Office of the Presiding Office is not only responsible for plenary sessions but also for the work of all the National Assembly Committees.These will be appointed in the coming weeks.


THE WELSH ASSEMBLY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS:

The Welsh Assembly Government departments were re-structured by the First Minister when he appointed his new Cabinet following the May 1st 2003 election.

The new departments and ministers announced by Rhodri Morgan on May 8th 2003 were:

DEPARTMENT CABINET MINISTER
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSPORT Andrew Davies AM
EDUCATION AND LIFE LONG LEARNING Jane Davidson AM
SOCIAL JUSTICE Edwina Hart MBE AM
HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES Jane Hutt AM
ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL AFFAIRS Carwyn Jones AM
FINANCE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT Sue Essex AM
CULTURE, SPORT AND LANGUAGES OF WALES Alun Pugh AM

They replace the old departmental framework of:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATION AND LIFE LONG LEARNING
HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS
FINANCE AND COMMUNITIES
CULTURE AND SPORT
ENVIRONMENT

The Cabinet also includes two Ministers without departments,
The First Minister Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan AM and
The Business Manager (Cardiff's equivalent to Westminster's 'Leader of the House') Karen Sinclair AM