Silk Commission updates Welsh Secretary on progress
Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones has today met with the Chair of the Commission on Devolution in Wales, Paul Silk to discuss the progress…
Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones has today met with the Chair of the Commission on Devolution in Wales, Paul Silk to discuss the progress being made on reviewing the present financial and constitutional arrangements in Wales.
Meeting for the first time since Mr Jones’s appointment to Cabinet, Mr Silk took the opportunity to update him on the work the Commission has undertaken to date on the first part of its remit, which looks at the financial accountability of the National Assembly and the Welsh Government.
The findings of part one will be reported in the late autumn of 2012.
The findings of the second part, where the Commission will look at the powers of the Assembly and recommend modifications to the constitutional arrangements, should be published in 2014.
Speaking after today’s meeting, Mr Jones said:
“The Silk Commission is doing an important job looking at how the accountability of the devolved institutions in Wales can be enhanced.
“I was very interested to hear about the progress to date and the efforts they’ve made to ensure the general public have been fully engaged in the discussions. The recommendations which the Commission makes in both aspects of its work will need to have a wide degree of support.
“I will be giving full consideration to the Commission’s recommendations when it publishes its part one of its finding later this year.”
Paul Silk, Chair of the Commission said:
“Today was my first meeting with the Secretary of State since his appointment and it was good to be able to offer our best wishes to him in his new role. As we near the completion of Part I of our work, it was important to provide an update on our emerging thinking and our preparations for the launch of the report. We are looking at reporting sometime in November and will be announcing further details in due course.”
The Commission on Welsh Devolution, known as the ‘Silk Commission’, was launched in October 2011.
**NOTES TO EDITORS **
The Commission is chaired by Paul Silk, and is known as the ‘Silk Commission’. Paul is a former clerk to the National Assembly for Wales.
Paul is part of a strong Commission team. He is joined by two independent members.
They are:
Dyfrig John CBE, Chairman of the Principality Building Society and a former Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of HSBC Bank; and Professor Noel Lloyd CBE, a former Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Aberystwyth University.
There are also four party political nominees on the Commission, each nominated by one of the four political parties in the Assembly.
They are:
Professor Nick Bourne, the Welsh Conservative nominee, and former leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Assembly;
Sue Essex, the Welsh Labour nominee, and a former Welsh Assembly Government Minister;
Rob Humphreys, the Welsh Liberal Democrats nominee, and Director for the Open University in Wales; and
Dr Eurfyl ap Gwilym, the Plaid Cymru nominee, and a former Deputy Chairman of the Principality Building Society.