In response to the report by the Smith Commission report of the future of devolution in Scotland, the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales, Dame Rosemary Butler AM has issued the following statement:
"The Smith Commission has worked swiftly to produce its proposals on the next steps for Scotland. As I have frequently said, it is important that constitutional change involves all the nations of the UK – not just Scotland.
"Throughout the history of devolution in the UK, changes to the constitutional settlement in Scotland have often led to similar changes in Wales.
"In fact, the Prime Minister himself has said that people of Wales will also have a bigger say about their own affairs.
"I look forward to examining the proposals in more detail and seeing where there are elements which might usefully be considered for Wales."
The Presiding Officer met with Secretary of State for Wales Stephen Crabb on 24 November 2014 to discuss future devolution in Wales.
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.