The National Assembly for Wales and the Promotion of Sustainable Development: Implications for collaborative government and governance

Abstract

The National Assembly for Wales is unique amongst all levels of modern government in the UK in that it is legally required under section 121(1) of the Government of Wales Act 1998 to make a scheme setting out how it proposes, in the exercise of its functions, to promote sustainable development. This requirement represents a significant challenge for the Assembly in terms of establishing institutional structures and operational processes that will facilitate and promote sustainable development across all of its areas of responsibility. This article explores the background to the duty placed upon the Assembly and the different models that the Assembly may pursue in trying to achieve its goal of sustainable development. It explores the potential for joined-up government within the Assembly and the prospects for new forms of governance in its external links and the interactions between its internal and external processes. The article concludes that the Assembly will be a powerful force for collaborative government and that the requirements of section 121 should reinforce this move towards a new style of collaborative government but that there remains a risk that pragmatic pressures may prompt a return to the traditionally dominant form of economic governance that characterised the former Welsh Office.