Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly comparedOn 1 July 1999 the Scottish Parliament assumed full powers and duties. This was a devolved government, in which some legislative powers were transferred from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Parliament was designed to embody the links between the people of Scotland, the members of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Executive. The powers of duty are divided between the Scottish Executive (handles ministerial powers and functions) and the Secretary of State for Scotland (holds responsibilities relating to reserved matters). The Secretary of State, however, remains a member of the UK Cabinet. More importantly, it can pass primary legislation and has several fiscal powers. The Government of Wales Act was passed in 1998, which established a national assembly for Wales. This was approved in a referendum on 18 September 1997. This allowed the transfer of powers from the Secretary of State for Wales to the Assembly itself. The first secretary, Rhodri Morgan, is responsible for ensuring the smooth functioning of the cabinet, constitutional relations, cost cutting and Europe. The Welsh Assembly does not have the same power as Scotland and is only able to pass secondary legislation. Referendums were held to ask Scottish and Welsh citizens whether or not they wanted devolution. Scotland had previously held a referendum in 1979 in which the 'yes' vote achieved a 52% majority, but this did not pass due to a 40% turnout. This changed dramatically in 1997, when a "yes" vote achieved a 74% majority with a 60% turnout. On the contrary… halfway through the document… they exceeded expectations due to both countries' sentiment towards devolution; and how the institution has performed since then. The Welsh Assembly began with very little support and the Welsh people were pleasantly surprised when they began to pass a large amount of legislation, whilst there was an outcry over Scottish devolution and although legislation was passed it was not in the leagues and sense that there he expected it to. To be. For this reason I think I agree with the initial statement, even though both institutions had many problems both due to leadership and failures in the early years. I think the Scottish Parliament simply needs more time to establish itself as an effective decentralized institution, so the actual limitations of the Welsh Assembly will be more apparent to citizens..