Commission on Devolution in Wales

The Commission on Devolution in Wales (Welsh: Comisiwn ar Ddatganoli yng Nghymru), also known as the Silk Commission, was an independent commission established by Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan on 11 October 2011. The commission was based at the Wales Office Cardiff headquarters, at Cardiff Bay and met for the first time on 4 November 2011 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The commission reviewed the case for the devolution of fiscal powers to the Welsh Assembly and considered the case for increasing the powers of the assembly. It published its findings in two parts.

The commission had 7 members including representatives from the political parties represented in the Welsh Assembly:

The terms of reference for the commission were:

In November 2012 the commission reported on the fiscal powers question. It made 33 recommendations designed to give the Welsh government responsibility for raising around one quarter of its budget. The commission's first report was implemented by the Wales Act 2014. Devolution of tax-raising powers is to begin with smaller taxes such as Stamp Duty in 2018, and by 2020 the Welsh government is to have the power to vary income tax, following a referendum.

The commission was initially planned to report on the assembly powers question by the end of 2013 but this deadline was extended and the report was published in March 2014. It was commonly known as "Silk II".

It made 61 recommendations including:

The majority of the recommendations of Silk II went into the St David's Day Agreement, which was announced on 27 February 2015, and also into command paper Powers for a Purpose: Towards a Lasting Devolution Settlement for Wales. After the United Kingdom general election, 2015 a Wales Bill was announced with the purpose of carrying forward the implementation of the recommendations into legislation.

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