An Order in Council has updated the list of devolved Welsh authorities in Schedule 9A to the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Government of Wales Act 2006 (Devolved Welsh Authorities) (Amendment) Order 2025 was made on 10 December 2025, laid before Parliament on 17 December 2025 and comes into force on 8 January 2026. It is a technical instrument intended to align the list with institutional changes previously enacted by the Senedd.
Article 2 removes “the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales” and “the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales” from Schedule 9A and inserts “the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru”. The name change was provided by section 12 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024, while sections 56 and 57 of the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024 abolish the Panel and confer remuneration functions on the Commission.
Schedule 9A operates as a definitive list of devolved Welsh authorities for the purposes of the 2006 Act. Listing provides legal clarity alongside the general definition in section 157A and has been used to reflect institutional reform; during 2024 scrutiny, Welsh Ministers told the Senedd the approach increases transparency over which bodies are devolved.
On operations, the change follows reforms already in force. The Welsh Government confirms that the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru now undertakes Senedd boundary reviews, leads the Electoral Management Board for devolved elections, and determines the remuneration framework for members of principal councils, town and community councils, corporate joint committees, fire and rescue authorities and national park authorities. The Commission states it assumed remuneration responsibilities on 1 April 2025 and intends to publish its first annual determinations by spring 2026, following the Panel’s final determinations on 24 February 2025.
The Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Act 2024 brought section 56 into force on 1 April 2025 by S.I. 2024/1337, ensuring continuity when the Panel was abolished and its powers transferred. The 2025 Order therefore regularises Schedule 9A so that the list reflects those earlier statutory changes.
For public bodies, the principal effect is administrative. Instruments, guidance and internal registers that rely on Schedule 9A status should be updated to refer to the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru in place of the Independent Remuneration Panel for Wales and the former Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales.
No separate impact assessment accompanies the Order; the Explanatory Note records that no, or no significant, impact is foreseen across the private, voluntary or public sectors. The Order is narrowly targeted at correcting the Schedule so the statute book reflects the 2024 Acts that repurposed and expanded the Commission’s remit.