Government of Wales Act 2006 - Schedule 5 of The Act

Schedule 5 of The Act

Schedule 5 of the Act describes the 20 "Fields" and "Matters" in which the National Assembly for Wales has Legislative competence i.e. the ability to pass Assembly Measures. A 'Field' is a broad subject area, e.g. education and training; environment; health and health services; highways and transport; housing. A 'Matter' is a specific defined policy area within a Field. The assembly can gain further legislative competence by the amendment of Schedule 5.

There are two ways by which this can happen: either as a result of clauses included in legislation passed by an Act of Parliament in Westminster, or by Legislative Competency Orders (LCOs) granted by Parliament in response to a request from the National Assembly itself (LCOs may be proposed by the Welsh Government, or by individual members, or by Assembly Committees; but must be approved by the National Assembly before they can progress). The end result of either method is to amend the 20 "Fields" by inserting specific "Matters" into each "Field". The Assembly then has competence to pass legislation on those Matters.

Schedule 5 is regularly updated as result of these two processes. An up-to-date version (which also indicates where amendments are proposed) is available on the National Assembly's website.