The UK Government has accepted the recommendations that the Silk Commission made a year ago,and ha announced that Wales will be transferred taxation and borrowing powers. The decision is set to expand Welsh self-government, and has been welcomed both by the Welsh Government and by the four parties represented in the National Assembly for Wales. A rare unanimity between sovereignists and unionists, which is not likely to last, when next year it is decided whether Wales should assume new powers.

The Silk Commission was formed in 2011 by the Secretary of State for Wales Cheryl Gillan in order to analyze whether it was necessary to extend Wales's degree of self-government. Made up of seven experts (four of which are representing the four parties in the Welsh Assembly), the Commission has a mandate to advise the British government on two different packages of measures: on the one hand, the transfer of financial powers to Welsh institutions; on the other, the transfer of new powers.

The report on the first package came out last November and determined that Welsh institutions should be allowed to raise their own taxes and should also be able to have borrowing powers. Until today, the amount of money in the Welsh budget is entirely assigned by the British Government.

The British Government finally accepted last week that Wales should have powers to borrow money to invest in Wales. It has also been agreed that Landfill Tax and Stamp Duty Land Tax will be transferred to Wales. In addition, a referendum will be organized so that the Welsh people can decide if a part of the income tax should also be transferred to Wales.

Both the Labour-led Welsh Government and the three opposition parties (Plaid Cymru, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats) have welcomed the announcement by David Cameron's Government. According to the Welsh Government, the decision is "a significant milestone in our story of devolution". Plaid Cymru has called for a quick decision on the transfer of income tax to Cardiff. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have said the announcement is a victory of theirs, and have added that now the "lazy Labour Government" will not be able to continue spending "other people's money without responsibility for raising any of it".

Welsh Prime Minister Carwyn Jones has said that his government has "not yet" plans for the referendum on the devolution of income tax to be held.

Less likely unanimity in second package of measures

The report on the second package -on new powers for Wales- will be released by the Silk Commission in Spring 2014. It is likely that the parties' opinions are far more distant. Plaid Cymru would like to assume as many powers as possible, while the Conservatives (neither in Wales nor at the UK level) do not want big changes. Halfway between, the Labour Party in Wales holds different positions. Some sectors within the party want the current distribution of powers to remain more or less the same as now, while other sectors call for increased self-government. Pushed by the latter sector, the Welsh Prime Minister Carwyn Jones asked in March for a substantial transfer of competencies from London to Cardiff, with only a handful of powers reserved to London.

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