The Wales Bill 2014 has received Royal Assent, which introduces the Wales Act 2014, renames the ‘Welsh Assembly Government’ as the ‘Welsh Government’ and introduces new financial powers.
The Welsh Government writes:
First Minister of Wales Carwyn Jones has today welcomed the Wales Bill receiving Royal Assent. Now called the Wales Act 2014, it delivers new financial powers for Wales by:
- enabling the National Assembly to develop Welsh taxes to replace UK stamp duty land tax and UK landfill tax;
- allowing Welsh Ministers to borrow up to £500 million to invest in capital projects, with further borrowing of up to £500 million to manage short-term budget fluctuations arising from tax devolution;
- establishing a mechanism to create new taxes on a case-by case basis; and
- granting the Assembly the power to call a referendum on the introduction of a Welsh rate of income tax.
The Act also:
- provides for Assembly elections to take place every five years, thereby avoiding future Assembly elections clashing with Westminster elections;
- removes the restriction on standing as both a constituency and a regional candidate in an Assembly election, and provides that MPs are disqualified from being AMs;
- renames the ‘Welsh Assembly Government’ as the ‘Welsh Government’; and
- enables the Welsh Ministers to refer law reform proposals to the Law Commission directly.
