What does the UK government do in Wales?

By now, you've probably heard there's a UK general election on 4 July.

Members of Parliament - or MPs - will be elected to the House of Commons, and the leader of the party with the most MPs will become the new prime minister.

Wales - like Scotland and Northern Ireland - also has a devolved government - meaning some powers have been passed from the House of Commons to the Welsh Parliament, or Senedd, in Cardiff Bay.

What is devolution?

For many years England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were all run by the UK government, based in Westminster in London.

But in a process called devolution, some powers were passed from Westminster to elected bodies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the end of the 1990s.

Wales now has its own law-making body - called the Senedd or the Welsh Parliament - and its own government, led by Welsh Labour's Vaughan Gething.

You can read more about how devolution works across the UK here.

The Senedd, or Welsh Parliament, is in Cardiff Bay

How is Wales funded?

The Barnett formula is a system of grants which decides how much money there is to spend on services like schools and hospitals in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

So when spending by the UK government goes up – for example a cash boost for the NHS in England – a chunk of money also goes to the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish administrations. They can then spend it on whatever they decide.

It’s controversial because it’s based on the population of the various nations, rather than factors like the size of the economy or the numbers on hospital waiting lists.

The formula is named after the politician who came up with it in the 1970s, the then-Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury Joel Barnett.

Who runs what in Wales?

Some of the biggest policy areas that the Welsh government has control over are health, which includes the Welsh NHS, and education, which includes schools.

Other devolved policy areas include transport and speed limits - which has regularly hit the headlines following the Welsh government's 20mph policy which was introduced in 2023.

The UK government remains responsible for a lot, including military, immigration, policing and the courts.

Most taxes, benefits and pensions are also the responsibility of ministers in London.

The UK government also gives the Welsh government most of the billions of pounds that the Welsh government has to spend on things it is responsible for.

Knowing who does what

Politicians will make all sorts of pledges during the general election campaign some of them will be on things that are run by the Welsh government, rather than the UK government that will be formed after 4 July.

Blurring the lines on who is responsible for what is a common thing politicians do for important areas, such as health and transport, that voters care about.

If politicians are saying they will do something on a devolved issue during the UK general election campaign, the reality is their party would need to be in charge of the Welsh government to make it happen.

The issue is complicated by funding - how much cash the Welsh government has to spend is largely down to UK government ministers.

That's a big issue in Wales this time around, after almost a year of cuts in Welsh public services to help prop up the NHS.

In any case, you won't get a say on which party runs the Welsh government until the Senedd elections in 2026.

What powers does the Welsh government have?

• Health and social services

• Education, training and skills

• Local government

• Housing

• Economic development

• Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

• Environment and planning

• Transport

• Tourism, sport, culture and heritage

• Fire and rescue services

• Water and flood defences

• Welsh language

• Some income tax

• Stamp duty

• Landfill tax

• Road signs and speed limits

• Equal opportunities in relation to public bodies in Wales

• Licensing of onshore oil and gas extraction

• Onshore wind, and renewable energy projects under 350MW

• Senedd and local government elections

What powers does the UK government have?

• The constitution

• Justice and policing

• Foreign affairs

• Defence and national security

• Nationality, immigration and asylum

• Macroeconomic and fiscal matters

• Financial services and pensions regulation

• International trade and financial markets

• International development

• Elections to the UK parliament

• National minimum wage

• Competition

• Intellectual property

• Regulation of air services and international shipping

• Broadcasting

• Telecoms

• Employment law

• Cross-border rail and most rail infrastructure

• Energy

• Social security

• Abortion, genetics, surrogacy, medicines, embryology

• Most equal opportunities issues

• The postal service

• Charity law