Devolved areas

There are 20 broad policy areas that have been devolved to Wales from the UK. Broadly speaking, these are the areas in which the National Assembly for Wales has the ability to make legislation and the Welsh Government has the ability to make policies and secondary legislation. They are:

· Field 1 - agriculture, fisheries, forestry and rural development

· Field 2 - ancient monuments and historic buildings

· Field 3 - culture

· Field 4 - economic development

· Field 5 - education and training

· Field 6 - environment

· Field 7 - fire and rescue services and promotion of fire safety

· Field 8 - food

· Field 9 - health and health services

· Field 10 - highways and transport

· Field 11 - housing

· Field 12 - local government

· Field 13 - National Assembly for Wales

· Field 14 - public administration

· Field 15 - social welfare

· Field 16 - sport and recreation

· Field 17 - tourism

· Field 18 - town and country planning

· Field 19 - water and flood defence

· Field 20 - Welsh language

These areas are listed in the Government of Wales Act 2006 in Schedule 7 to the Act. Whilst these are fairly broad areas there are some exceptions to them which organisations who may wish to influence or suggest policies or legislation need to be aware of. If an area is listed as an exception then the National Assembly does not have legislative powers over that area. For example ‘Research Councils’ are listed as an exception under the areas of Education and Training. You can find these exceptions also listed in Schedule 7 and it is worth taking some time to be clear on what the National Assembly can and can’t legislate on in relation to your topics of interest.

Click here to find out more about how the National Assembly can use these powers and how it makes legislation.