LCOs are not the only pieces of devolution jigsaw - German

3.44.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th Jul 2008

Speaking ahead of the announcement of the Assembly Government's legislative programme, Mike German, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said: "I'm concerned that the first year of legislation by the Assembly has produced so little for the people of Wales.

"The new powers and legislation the Assembly government announced last year have been so slow in coming forward. Just two of the six bids for more powers have been completed, and just one new Measure (or Assembly law). I appreciate we need to take care when making new laws - I want them to be right too - but too many Labour and Conservative MPs in Westminster are holding Wales back.

"The Assembly government must also make sure it is making maximum use of Westminster bills to acquire more powers for Wales. While we are still reliant on Westminster to grant us more powers, it is only right that we make full use of the Framework powers, which piggy back more powers to the Assembly on the back of legislation going through the Houses of Parliament.

"With Legislative Competence Orders (LCOs) taking so long to wade through Labour's legislative road blocks, the Labour-Plaid government is only adding small occasional pieces to the jigsaw of full powers. Making greater use of framework powers in Westminster bills would give Wales bigger pieces of the jigsaw and make us less reliant on MPs, so the Assembly can make a bigger difference for the people of Wales.

"I hope today's statement will set devolution moving further and faster in the coming year."