Y gwlad y draig (The country of the dragon)

South Wales has much in common with the former industrial heartlands of neighbouring England, but as it follows the familiar process of physical and economic regeneration, it is also re-asserting its own distinct cultural – national – identity

Tourism is an important component of the Welsh economy these days, just as it is for the UK as a whole, but one of the chief attractions for visitors is also a stern reminder that the country’s relations with its English neighbours weren’t always quite so cordial.

Norman castles and fortifications, so picturesque today, are a legacy of conquest, built to ‘ring-fence’ and dominate a people who were – unsurprisingly – rather miffed to find themselves under foreign yoke. That was in 1282, when England’s Edward I finally completed his conquest of the Welsh kingdoms. Times change and in the early 1400s Wales secured a brief independence.

Fast forward a century or so, and Wales was back under English control, or maybe it was kind of the other way round, when the Welsh-descended Tudor monarch – and serial wife executioner – Henry VIII was in charge, laying the foundations for what would become the modern British state. He completed what some consider the annexation of the country with the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535-1542, though strictly speaking these laws had more to do with taking English law into Wales, rather than legally codifying the political amalgamation of formerly sovereign states.

Even so, Wales had effectively been absorbed into the Union – centuries before it was brought into existence by the Acts of Union, which is why for some, South Wales has much in common with the former industrial heartlands of neighbouring England, but as it follows the familiar process of physical and economic regeneration, it is also re-asserting its own distinct cultural – national – identity.

Wales is sometimes regarded as being England’s first colony. In a sense, one might say history played a bit of a trick on Wales: it came under the English thumb before England – or the other nations of these islands – came into being in any remotely modern sense.

But all this ‘birth of a nation’ stuff is ancient history – or is it? Certainly, the sense of Wales’ own distinctive history, culture and well, nationhood, has not diminished, but has rather found an increasingly more confident expression, especially in recent decades. For those of us beyond its borders, the revival of the Welsh language is, appropriately enough, the most vocal symbol of this resurgence in Welsh national identity, but there is more to it than that and the modernisation and rebalancing of the constitutional arrangements continue.

One Wales
In 1999 devolution saw the country gain the freedom to govern its own affairs with the establishment of the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) – Llywodraeth Cynullian Cymru, as it is in Welsh – which granted the Senedd the powers to legislate on its own affairs in 20 devolved areas. Unlike its Scottish
counterparts, however, Welsh devolution came with apron strings attached:effectively, it had to win the approval of the Westminster arliament before passing laws on its own account. For Welsh legislatures, and those working with them, it was a source of much frustration.

Housing provides a case in point. Despite this being one of the 20 areas of devolved responsibility, before the Assembly could pass Measures (the Assembly’s equivalent of Acts of Parliament), it first had to gain a Legislative Competence Order (LCO), as set out in the Government of Wales Act 2006. The process for the Housing and Local Government LCO was some three years in the making and had to go through the UK Parliamentary process, before being approved by the Privy Council to gain Royal Assent in July last year.

One of the first Draft Measures to be drawn up and introduced to the Assembly was aimed at helping boost the numbers of affordable homes by providing the power to suspend Right To Buy in places deemed to be facing acute pressures on housing need.

“We are making progress in increasing the supply of affordable housing, but demand is still very high and we therefore need to ensure that we continue to do all we can to address this shortage,” said Jocelyn Davies AM, deputy minister for housing and regeneration, welcoming the introduction of the Draft Measure.

“Providing social landlords with a period of grace in areas of housing pressure through temporarily suspending Right To Buy, will allow time for much-needed work to take place to increase the supply of affordable housing in Wales.”

Not long after introducing this Draft Measure, the Welsh Assembly Government was marking an important milestone in the delivery of new homes.

In November, it announced that the target to deliver 6,500 new homes had been achieved a year earlier than the planned deadline of March 2011, as set out in the One Wales document. Between April 2009 and March 2010, some 2,472 new homes had been provided, bringing the total to 6,707.

“This is a particularly impressive achievement given the current economic conditions,” Davies said. “However, we know that the demand for affordable housing continues to grow and we need to deliver more homes in the future. With tightening budgets, this will prove quite a challenge but we are developing new ways in which we can attract other investment and I look forward to working with local authorities, housing associations and others in the housing sector to keep up the good work we have carried out to date.”

Partnership working has been crucial. Of the new homes delivered under the One Wales plan, some 83 per cent were provided by housing associations, according to a study undertaken by the Welsh Economic Research Unit (WERU), building 2,286 new affordable homes in the 2009/10 financial year. The study also found that housing associations contributed £698 million to the W elsh economy, an increase of £202 million over the year 2008/09.

Peter Cahill, chair of Community Housing Cymru (CHC), said of the findings: “Despite the cuts in public spending we’ll have to grapple with over the coming years, it’s important that we don’t forget the impact of our joint success. Through joint working, we have succeeded in meeting the One Wales target of 6,500 affordable homes... Innovation will be critical going forward.”

The people of Wales, they say “yes”
Wales’ political evolution took another leap this month, with a referendum on the Assembly’s relationship with the Westminster Parliament. In a verdict hailed as historic by the country’s political class, the voters declared their intent to cut those apron strings, voting in favour of granting greater legislative power to their National Assembly.

“The system we have used so far, under the Government of Wales Act, had an element of duplication, and created confusion about who was responsible for what,” said First Minister for Wales, Carwyn Jones AM. “Removing that duplication will enable us to use our legislative capacity more effectively, and people will gain a clearer understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the devolved institutions in Wales.”

The “yes” vote doesn’t grant the Assembly any new areas of devolved power, but it does mean they can legislate on the ones already granted without the need to seek the UK Parliament’s approval. It opens the way for future Welsh Government’s to be – if ever-so-slightly – more fleet of foot in legislating for the country.

It’s quite a bequest to the administration that will take office in the wake of May’s Assembly elections. They won’t have to look over their shoulders quite so much to check that the grand dame of all Parliaments approves; instead they can look towards the future.

Croeso i Gymru, as they say in Welsh – welcome to Wales.

Playing the numbers

Wales’s population in 2009 stood at just under three million, but it was projected to increase by eight per cent from 2008 to 3.2 million in 2023 and was projected to cross the three million mark between mid-2009 and mid-2010.

The Welsh Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2009 was £44.5 billion or £14,842 per head, which is around 74 per cent of the average of the total for all UK regions. The country had the lowest level of GVA per head in the UK regions behind the North East and Northern Ireland, where GVA was 78.2 per cent and 79.1 per cent of the UK average respectively.

Gross disposable household income (GDHI) for Wales in 2008 was £39.1 billion or £13,073 per head of population, which is close to the UK average. For the four quarters to 2010’s quarter three, the value of Welsh exports fell by 6.3 per cent on the previous four quarters, but rose by 37.8 per cent over 1999. Exports to EU countries accounted for 56 per cent of the total for the latest four quarters, up from 52 per cent in the previous four.

This compares to the value for the UK overall where for the same period, the value of exports rose by 9.7 per cent over the previous four quarters and rose by 45.4 per cent over 1999. Exports to EU countries accounted for 48 per cent of the total for the latest four quarters compared to 51 per cent in the previous four.

Manufacturing output in Wales rose by 1.3 per cent during the four quarters ending in quarter three of 2010 while UK output in this period rose by one per cent.

Construction output for the period fell by 4.2 per cent compared with the previous four quarters while UK output rose by 2.9 per cent over the same period.

Labour Force Survey estimates put the employment rate in Wales at 67.6 per cent (1.3 million) of those aged 16-64 during October to December 2010. The unemployment rate during the period was 8.4 per cent of the economically active population, down from 8.6 per cent the previous year.

(Source: Welsh Assembly Government Statistical Directorate)

Seat of authority

Cardiff has been the Welsh capital since 1955 and it is here in this city that the Senedd – the Welsh word for ‘Senate’ or ‘Parliament’ – is situated. It was officially opened by the Queen in March 2006.

Designed by Richard Rogers, the brief for the design set out the desire for the assembly building to represent high ideals in environmental performance, as well as the ideals of democratic autonomy. The former gained it the BREEAM Excellent certification.

The measures used, both renewable energy systems and natural and passive systems to heat and cool the building, reduce the Senedd’s running costs between 30 and 50 per cent. The chimney is a wind-assisted rotating cowl that ventilates the inner space while air outlets further assist natural ventilation. The total cost, including fixtures, fittings, furniture and art, ICT and broadcasting equipment, came to £67 million.

As a functioning site of Government, the Senedd is designed not only to allow Assembly Members to conduct their political work, but also to make it accessible to the public. It has a Siambr – debating chamber – and committee rooms, and a public space – the Neuadd – while the Oriel provides an open space that offers views of the Siambr at work, as well as a panoramic view of Cardiff Bay.

Devolution, which came into effect in 1999, gave Wales the authority to make decisions and legislate in 20 fields: 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 health 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.

The Assembly seats 60 members, elected on a 60/40 split between a first-past-the-post and the Additional Member electoral systems. The legislation it passes are known as Measures. The Assembly Government is led by a First Minister, currently Carwyn Jones.