Cardiff Council is calling on residents of the capital to give their support to the Yes for Wales campaign ahead of the March 3 referendum.
At a meeting of Full Council last week, Cardiff councillors agreed to support the campaign that would give the Welsh Assembly Government further powers and give Wales a stronger voice.
Cardiff Council Leader, Rodney Berman said: “The Council believes that a YES vote at the referendum on March 3, 2011 will reap dividends for the people of Wales and help the Council to implement some of its policies and services more quickly.
“A Yes vote for Wales will help take Wales forward by speeding up the decision making process to allow Assembly Members to progress issues quicker.”
Cllr Berman highlighted the long wait for the Westminster Parliament to pass the Housing Legislative Competence Order (LCO) as an example of how hampered the Welsh Assembly Government and local authorities are at present. If the National Assembly had had the powers to pass this law without first seeking consent from Westminster, Cardiff Council would have had the opportunity to introduce related measures a lot sooner in a more favourable economic climate.
Cllr Berman said: “Cardiff is proud to be the seat of national government in Wales, which has knock-on benefits for the profile and status of the Capital City of Wales and also for related employment and tourism which is, in turn, good for the continued economic development of the city.
“A stronger Senedd with greater powers would further boost those positive impacts. The speeding up of government and the reduction of bureaucracy in law-making in Wales can only be a good thing.
“Cardiff Council therefore supports a Yes vote on March 3.”
Deputy Leader of Cardiff Council, Neil McEvoy, said: “The country has made great strides since the Assembly was established but it’s now time to take a step further again to devolve greater powers to Wales and simplify the current time-consuming process of getting permission from Westminster first.
“I urge residents to Cardiff to vote Yes at the referendum to make a difference for Cardiff and Wales.”
