The National Assembly for Wales's Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, today met with the Secretary of State, Stephen Crabb MP, to discuss the Westminster Government's proposals on further devolution for Wales.
"It was a very constructive meeting with the Secretary of State," the Presiding Officer said.
"It is essential that the Assembly's voice is heard in the discussions about the future of devolution in Wales.
"Both the Secretary of State and I want to see a settlement that delivers for the people of Wales.
"To do that we need the right powers, the right capacity and a greater freedom to make our own decisions about the way we run our democracy."
During the meeting the Presiding Officer focused on the following issues:
- Reserved Powers – moving to a reserved powers model will help to dispel some of the uncertainty of the Assembly's role and responsibilities. It will allow the Assembly to legislate more effectively and with greater confidence;
- Capacity – the Presiding Officer has consistently called for the number of Assembly Members to be increased to at least 80 in order to ensure we have the capacity to develop the necessary expertise required to robustly hold Government Ministers to account on their policy, legislative and tax raising proposals;
- Sovereignty – the Assembly should be able to decide its own future and control decisions on matters such as the Assembly's name and electoral arrangements and internal rules, rather than Westminster, and create the best possible laws for the people of Wales.
Picture of Dame Rosemary Butler with Stephen Crabb MP.