Wales will have to wait for its Saints Day to be made a public holiday because there's no slot in the United Kingdom governments legislative programme.

In a reply to the Celtic League which had pressed them on the issue the Office of the First Minister for Wales said the Assembly does not "at this time have the legislative competence to introduce or change the dates of bank holidays as this remains a reserved function of the UK Government".

A full copy of the reply is set out below

"Dear Mr Tal-e-bot

Thank you for your email of 2 March addressed to the First Minister, Mr Rhodri Morgan. Your query has been forwarded to the Constitutional Affairs Unit and I have been asked to respond.

As you correctly pointed out in your correspondence, the Government of Wales Act 2006 provides Welsh Ministers with the opportunity to make new Welsh laws, or Assembly Measures, in the areas set out in Schedule 5 of that Act. An Assembly Measure can be made on a particular topic once the National Assembly has legislative competence over that topic (by inserting a description of the scope of the law-making power into Schedule 5 of the Government of Wales Act 2006).

Although the Government of Wales Act 2006 provides mechanisms for the devolution of further executive functions to Welsh Ministers and further legislative powers to the Assembly, the Assembly will not at this time have the legislative competence to introduce or change the dates of bank holidays as this remains a reserved function of the UK Government . Following implementation of the Government of Wales Act 2006 in May 2007, the issue therefore remains the responsibility of the UK Government.

You may already be aware that the Assembly Government has previously requested that the proposal to establish a national bank holiday for St David's Day be included within the UK's legislative programme. However to date, the UK Government has not allocated a slot for this proposal within it's legislative programme.

Yours sincerely

Sebastian Hains Constitutional Affairs Unit"

See also Celtic News Nos:

2111 - LEAGUE IN PUBLIC HOLIDAY CALL TO FIRST MINISTER - Mar 2, 2007

2110 - SAINT DAVID'S DAY HOLIDAY CALL - Mar 1, 2007

J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

21/03/07

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