Government in Wales: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:01, 11 July 2013

Wales Government

National Government[edit | edit source]

European Parliament	UK Parliament §	National Assembly
Brusssels, Belgium	Westminster, London, England	Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales
-	Prime Minister: David Cameron	First Minister / Prif Weinidog: Carwyn Jones

§ The UK Parliament is responsible for those areas of government not devolved to the National Assembly.

Local Government[edit | edit source]

a. Unitary Authorities[edit | edit source]

Local authorities are described by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 as "principal councils", and their areas as "principal areas".

Under the Act, each authority is governed by a council, which is formed for the county and is allocated the respective English and Welsh descriptions of County Council or Cyngor Sir), each council formed for a County Borough is allocated the respective descriptions of County Borough Council or Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol); in all cases the shorter alternative forms Council or Cyngor) can be used. However, this ruling is not always adhered to!

County Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election and all persons aged 18 or over, and living in the county, are eligible to vote.

Wales is divided into 22 of these unitary authorities, 11 of which are defined as counties and 11 as county boroughs:

Counties	County Boroughs
Anglesey	Blaenau Gwent
Cardiff	Bridgend
Carmarthenshire	Caerphilly
Ceredigion	Conwy
Denbighshire	Merthyr Tydfil
Flintshire	Neath Port Talbot
Gwynedd	Newport
Monmouthshire	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Pembrokeshire	Torfaen
Powys	Vale of Glamorgan
Swansea	Wrexham

Each council is responsible for the provision of all local government services, including:

education
social work
environmental protection
local highways

b. Community Councils[edit | edit source]

Under the Local Government Act 1972, the civil parish was abolished in favour of the community (Welsh: cymuned.) The community is the lowest tier of government in Wales and is the only form of government below the Unitary Authority.

Every part of Wales is within a community and communities can differ widely in size and population. The majority of the communities have an elected community council, however, those communities too small to have a council will organise community meetings.

Community Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons over aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election, and all persons aged 18 or over, and living in the community, are eligible to vote. The elections take place on the same day as the elections for the County Councils.

These Community Councils are responsible for specific aspects of local policy making.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Wales Genealogy|Wales]][[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]Government<br>
+[[Wales]][[Image:Gotoarrow.png]]Government<br>
+{{Wales-stub}}
+<br>
 == National Government  ==
-Wales is governed nationally by '''three''' legislatures:
+{| width="100%" border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" class="wikitable"
+|-
+! European Parliament
+! UK Parliament §
+! National Assembly
+|-
+| Brusssels, Belgium
+| Westminster, London, England
+| Cardiff Bay, Cardiff, Wales
+|-
+| -
+| Prime Minister: David Cameron
+| First Minister / Prif Weinidog: Carwyn Jones
+|}
-*the '''European Parliament''', in Brussels and Strasbourg
+§ The UK Parliament is responsible for those areas of government not devolved to the National Assembly.
-*the '''United Kingdom Parliament''', in London
-*the '''National Assembly for Wales''', in Cardiff
 == Local Government  ==
@@ Line 13: / Line 28: @@
 === a. Unitary Authorities  ===
-Local authorities are described by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 as "principal councils", and their areas as "principal areas" (which may be a '''county''' or a '''county borough''').
+Local authorities are described by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 as "principal councils", and their areas as "principal areas".
-Under the Act, each principal area is governed by a '''council''' for that area and which is allocated the respective English and Welsh descriptions of '''County Council''' or '''Cyngor Sir'''), each County Council formed for a County Borough is allocated the respective descriptions of '''County Borough Council''' or '''Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol'''); in all cases the shorter alternative forms '''Council''' or '''Cyngor''') can be used. However, this ruling is not always adhered to!
+Under the Act, each authority is governed by a '''council''', which is formed for the county and is allocated the respective English and Welsh descriptions of '''County Council''' or '''Cyngor Sir'''), each council formed for a County Borough is allocated the respective descriptions of '''County Borough Council''' or '''Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol'''); in all cases the shorter alternative forms '''Council''' or '''Cyngor''') can be used. However, this ruling is not always adhered to!
 County Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election and all persons aged 18 or over, and living in the county, are eligible to vote.
@@ Line 26: / Line 41: @@
 ! County Boroughs
 |-
-| [[Anglesey Genealogy|Anglesey]]
+| [[Anglesey]]
 | [[County Borough of Blaenau Gwent|Blaenau Gwent]]
 |-
@@ Line 32: / Line 47: @@
 | [[County Borough of Bridgend|Bridgend]]
 |-
-| [[Carmarthenshire Genealogy|Carmarthenshire]]
+| [[Carmarthenshire]]
 | [[County Borough of Caerphilly|Caerphilly]]
 |-
@@ Line 38: / Line 53: @@
 | [[County Borough of Conwy|Conwy]]
 |-
-| [[Denbighshire Genealogy|Denbighshire]]
+| [[Denbighshire]]
 | [[County Borough of Merthyr Tydfil|Merthyr Tydfil]]
 |-
-| [[Flintshire, Wales Genealogy|Flintshire]]
+| [[Flintshire]]
 | [[County Borough of Neath Port Talbot|Neath Port Talbot]]
 |-
@@ Line 47: / Line 62: @@
 | [[County of Newport|Newport]]
 |-
-| [[Monmouthshire Genealogy|Monmouthshire]]
+| [[Monmouthshire]]
 | [[County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf|Rhondda Cynon Taf]]
 |-
-| [[Pembrokeshire Genealogy|Pembrokeshire]]
+| [[Pembrokeshire]]
 | [[County Borough of Torfaen|Torfaen]]
 |-
-| [[County of Powys, Wales Genealogy|Powys]]
+| [[County of Powys|Powys]]
 | [[County Borough of the Vale of Glamorgan|Vale of Glamorgan]]
 |-
@@ Line 60: / Line 75: @@
 |}
-Each County Council is responsible for the provision of all local government services, including:
+Each council is responsible for the provision of all local government services, including:
 *education
@@ Line 69: / Line 84: @@
 === b. Community Councils  ===
-Under the Local Government Act 1972, the '''civil parish''' was abolished in favour of the '''community''' (Welsh: '''cymuned'''). The community is the lowest tier of government in Wales and is the only form of government below the Unitary Authority.
+Under the Local Government Act 1972, the '''civil parish''' was abolished in favour of the '''community'''&nbsp;(Welsh: '''cymuned'''.) The community is the lowest tier of government in Wales and is the only form of government below the Unitary Authority.
-There are over 850 communities in Wales and every part of the country is within a community. Communities can differ widely in size and population. The majority of the communities have an elected '''community council''', however, those communities too small to have a council will organise '''community meetings'''.
-Community Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons over aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election, and all persons aged 18 or over, and living in the community, are eligible to vote. The elections take place on the same day as the elections for the County Councils.
-In some cases, where appropriate, the Community Councils may call themselves a '''Town Council''' (as is the case in [[Llangollen, Denbighshire|Llangollen]]) or a '''City Council''' (as is the case in [[St. Asaph, Denbighshire|St. Asaph]]).
+Every part of Wales is within a community and communities can differ widely in size and population. The majority of the communities have an elected '''community council''', however, those communities too small to have a council will organise '''community meetings'''.
-These Community Councils are responsible for specific aspects of local policy making.
+Community Councillors are elected for a term of four years. All persons over aged 18 or over are eligible to stand for election, and all persons aged 18 or over, and living in the community, are eligible to vote. The elections take place on the same day as the elections for the County Councils.
-[[Category:Wales]]
+These Community Councils are responsible for specific aspects of local policy making.