Welsh Government
Welsh: Llywodraeth Cymru
Devolved government
Overview
Established	12 May 1999 (1999-05-12)
Country	Wales
Leader	First Minister (Vaughan Gething)
Appointed by	First Minister approved by the Senedd, ceremonially appointed by the monarch
Main organ	Cabinet
Responsible to	Senedd
Annual budget	£18.4 billion (2019/20)
Headquarters	Crown Buildings, Cathays Park, Cardiff, Wales
Website	gov.wales

The Welsh Government (Welsh: Llywodraeth Cymru) is the devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and deputy ministers. It is led by the first minister, usually the leader of the largest party in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru), who selects ministers and deputy ministers with the approval of the Senedd. The government is responsible for tabling policy in devolved areas (such as health, education, economic development, transport and local government) for consideration by the Senedd and implementing policy that has been approved by it.^[1][2]

The current Welsh Government is a Labour minority administration, following the 2021 Senedd election. Vaughan Gething has been the first minister of Wales since March 2024.

History

The Welsh Office

Prior to devolution in 1999 many executive functions for Wales were carried out by the Secretary of State for Wales and the Welsh Office. The Welsh Office was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post which had been created in October 1964. The post however had no Welsh electoral mandate, and over the ensuing years there were complaints of a "democratic deficit". For eleven years prior to 1997 Wales had been represented in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom by a Secretary of State who did not represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster. These factors led to growing calls for political devolution. The Welsh Office was disbanded on 1 July 1999 when most of its powers were transferred to the National Assembly for Wales.

Executive Committee of the National Assembly for Wales 1999 to 2007

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The National Assembly was created by the Government of Wales Act 1998, which followed a referendum in 1997. As initially established, the Welsh Government had no independent executive powers in law (unlike, for instance, the Scottish ministers and British government ministers). The National Assembly was established as a body corporate by the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the executive, as a committee of the assembly, only had those powers that the assembly as a whole voted to delegate to ministers.

The Government of Wales Act 2006 formally separated the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government, giving Welsh ministers independent executive authority, this taking effect following the May 2007 elections. Following separation, the Welsh ministers exercise functions in their own right. Further transfers of executive functions from the British government can be made directly to the Welsh ministers (with their consent) by an Order in Council approved by the British parliament.

Separation was designed to clarify the respective roles of the assembly and the government. Under the structures established by the Government of Wales Act 2006, the role of Welsh ministers is to make decisions; develop and implement policy; exercise executive functions and make statutory instruments. The remainder of the 60 assembly members in the National Assembly scrutinise the government's decisions and policies; hold ministers to account; approve budgets for the Welsh Government's programmes; and enact acts of assembly on subjects that have been devolved to the Welsh administration.

The result mirrored much more closely the relationship between the British government and British parliament and that between the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament.

After the 2007 election of the National Assembly for Wales

Legal separation

The new arrangements provided for in the Government of Wales Act 2006 created a formal legal separation between the National Assembly for Wales, comprising 60 assembly members, and the Welsh Assembly Government, comprising the first minister, Welsh ministers, deputy ministers and the counsel general. This separation between the two bodies took effect on the appointment of the first minister by Queen Elizabeth II following the assembly election on 3 May 2007.

Separation was meant to clarify the respective roles of the assembly and the government. The role of the government is to make decisions; develop and implement policy; exercise executive functions and make statutory instruments. The 60 assembly members in the National Assembly scrutinise the Welsh Government's decisions and policies; hold ministers to account; approve budgets for the Welsh Government's programmes; and have the power to enact assembly measures on certain matters. Assembly measures can now go further than the subordinate legislation which the assembly had the power to make prior to 2007.

Transfer of functions

The assembly's functions, including that of making subordinate legislation, in the main, transferred to the Welsh ministers upon separation. A third body was also established under the 2006 Act from May 2007, called the National Assembly for Wales Commission. It employs the staff supporting the new National Assembly for Wales, and holds property, enters into contracts and provides support services on its behalf.

Welsh ministers

The 2006 Act made new provision for the appointment of Welsh ministers. The first minister is nominated by the Senedd and then appointed by His Majesty the King. The first minister then appoints the Welsh ministers and the deputy Welsh ministers with the approval of the monarch. The Act created a new post of Counsel General for Wales, the principal source of legal advice to the Welsh Government. The counsel general is appointed by the monarch, on the nomination of the first minister, whose recommendation must be agreed by the Senedd and who cannot be dismissed without the Senedd's consent, but automatically leaves office when a new first minister is nominated. The counsel general may be, but does not have to be, a member of the Senedd. The Act permits a maximum of 12 Welsh ministers, which includes deputy Welsh ministers, but excludes the first minister and the counsel general. Accordingly, the maximum size of the Welsh Government is 14.

In Acts of the Senedd and of the UK Parliament, the expression "the Welsh Ministers" is used to refer to the Welsh government in similar contexts to those where "the Secretary of State" would be used to refer to the British government; it is defined to include only the first minister and ministers, not the deputy ministers or the counsel general.^[3]

2011 referendum on law-making powers

Functions and areas of competence

Following the "yes" vote in the referendum on further law-making powers for the assembly on 3 March 2011, the Welsh Government is now entitled to propose bills to the National Assembly for Wales on subjects within 20 fields of policy. Subject to limitations prescribed by the Government of Wales Act 2006, Acts of the National Assembly may make any provision that could be made by Act of Parliament. The 20 areas of responsibility devolved to the National Assembly for Wales (and within which Welsh ministers exercise executive functions) are:

• Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development
• Ancient monuments and historical buildings
• Culture
• Economic development
• Education and training
• Environment
• Fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety
• Food
• Health and social services
• Highways and transport
• Housing
• Local government
• National Assembly for Wales
• Public administration
• Social welfare
• Sport and recreation
• Tourism
• Town and country planning
• Water and flood defences
• Welsh language

Renaming

The Welsh Assembly Government was renamed Welsh Government (Llywodraeth Cymru) in practice in 2011, and in law by the Wales Act 2014.^[4][5]

Cabinet secretaries and ministers

The government is composed of cabinet secretaries and ministers. The counsel general is also a member of the Cabinet. The current government is a minority by Welsh Labour.

Portfolio	Name			Constituency	Party	Term
First Minister			Vaughan Gething MS	Cardiff South and Penarth	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office			Rebecca Evans MS	Gower	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government, and Planning			Julie James MS	Swansea West	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care			The Baroness Morgan of Ely MS	Mid & West Wales	Labour	2021–
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language			Jeremy Miles MS	Neath	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport			Ken Skates MS	Clwyd South	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs			Huw Irranca-Davies MS	Ogmore	Labour	2024–
Trefnydd (House Leader) and Chief Whip			Jane Hutt MS	Vale of Glamorgan	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Social Justice			Lesley Griffiths MS	Wrexham	Labour	2024–
Cabinet Secretary for Education			Lynne Neagle MS	Torfaen	Labour	2024–
Counsel General			Mick Antoniw MS	Pontypridd	Labour	2021–

Ministers

Portfolio	Name			Constituency	Party	Term
Minister for Mental Health and Early Years			Jayne Bryant MS	Newport West	Labour	2024–
Minister for Social Care			Dawn Bowden MS	Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	Labour	2024–
Minister for Social Partnership			Sarah Murphy MS	Bridgend	Labour	2024–

Civil service

The Welsh Government also includes a civil service that supports the Welsh ministers. As of March 2018, there are 5,015 full-time equivalent civil servants working across Wales.^[6] The civil service is a matter reserved to the British Parliament at Westminster: Welsh Government civil servants work within the rules and customs of His Majesty's Civil Service, but serve the devolved administration rather than the British Government.^[7]

Permanent secretary

The Permanent secretary heads the civil service of the Welsh Government and chairs the Strategic Delivery and Performance Board.

The Permanent Secretary is a member of His Majesty's Civil Service, and therefore takes part in the Permanent Secretaries Management Group of the Civil Service^[8] and is answerable to the most senior civil servant in Britain, the Cabinet Secretary, for professional conduct. The permanent secretary remains, however, at the direction of the Welsh ministers.

• Sir Jon Shortridge (May 1999 to April 2008)
• Dame Gillian Morgan (May 2008 to August 2012)
• Sir Derek Jones (October 2012 to February 2017)^[9]
• Dame Shan Elizabeth Morgan (February 2017 to 31 October 2021)^[9]
• Andrew Goodall (November 2021 to date)

Departments

• Permanent Secretary's Office^[10]
  • Propriety and Ethics Directorate
  • Office of the First Minister Directorate
  • Co-operation Agreement Unit Directorate
• Chief Operating Officer's Group^[11]
  • Finance Directorate
  • People and Places Directorate
  • Care Inspectorate Wales
  • Healthcare Inspectorate Wales
  • Commercial and Procurement Directorate
  • Continuous Improvement Directorate
  • Digital, Data & Technology & Knowledge and Analytical Services Directorate
• Climate Change & Rural Affairs Group^[11]
  • Transport & Digital Connectivity Directorate
  • Climate Change, Energy & Planning Directorate
  Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Welsh_Assembly_Government
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