Charles III Heir Apparent William, Prince of Wales First Minister (list) Rt Hon Eluned Morgan MS (L) Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies MS (L) Counsel General-designate – Elisabeth Jones Chief Whip and Trefnydd – Jane Hutt MS (L) Permanent Secretary Sixth Senedd Llywydd (Presiding Officer) Elin Jones MS (PC) Leader of the Opposition Darren Millar MS (C) Shadow Cabinet Prime Minister Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP (L) Secretary of State for Wales Rt Hon Jo Stevens MP (L) Principal councils (leader list) Corporate Joint Committees Local twinning see also: Regional terms and Regional economy United Kingdom Parliament elections European Parliament elections (1979–2020) Local elections Police and crime commissioner elections Referendums A Welsh statutory instrument (WSI; Welsh: offerynnau statudol Cymru) is subordinate legislation made by the Welsh Ministers, as well as subordinate legislation made by public bodies using powers provided to be exercisable by Welsh statutory instrument.
WSIs are the main form of subordinate legislation in Wales, being used by default to exercise powers delegated to the Welsh Ministers, the Counsel General, and the King-in-Council.
[2][3][4][5][6][1] Before Welsh devolution, subordinate legislation applying only to Wales was published as a subseries of the larger UK statutory instrument (SI) series.
For example, section 15 of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Wales) Act 2023 allows the Welsh Ministers to make regulations setting out implementation of the single-use plastic ban, and The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Civil Sanctions) (Wales) Regulations 2023 sets out in regulation 1 how a fixed monetary penalties will be set.
Act 1974, which applies to Wales and makes provisions relating to ensuring safety in the workplace.
[14] This terminology appears to be inherited from the UK Parliament, as the Senedd has not provided official guidance specifically defining the term.
The phrase comes from laying before the house, which originally referred to the placing of a (physical) document on the table in the assembly chamber.
The LJSC and other committees report back to the Senedd, which applies a varying level of scrutiny depending on the exact procedure for that WSI.
These are so-called special procedure orders (SPOs), and differ from WSIs subject to other types of procedure in that notice of SPOs must be posted in the London Gazette (or a local newspaper, if the SPO relates to a particular area) and in that members of the public may object to an SPO.
[17] While WSIs are separate from UK SIs, they generally appear to follow the same naming convention for rules, regulations, and orders.
The Welsh Government and the Senedd have not, however, as of October 2016, published official guidance defining the terms, and so it cannot be known with certainty whether the definitions used for WSIs and SIs are identical.
These definitions were established by the so-called "Donoughmore Committee" of 1932, and recommended in official guidance published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
[23] The recommended ways of citing an WSI are by its title – for example, The Education (Student Finance) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2024 – or by its year and number (e.g. W.S.I.
[17] Some style guides recommend the use of both forms in a citation (as in The Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 (Commencement No.