Government of Wales Bill

This string of amendments is about political balance and how the Assembly Commission will be set up. I look forward to hearing what other Members with amendments in this string have to say in defence of their ideas, but I believe that we have a lot in common in what we are trying to achieve. Amendment No. 30 would ensure cross-party representation on the Assembly Commission, which will have various responsibilities and functions, such as those relating to"““property, rights or liabilities acquired or incurred in relation to matters to which the Assembly would otherwise be entitled””." As far as I can see, nothing in the Bill as drafted guarantees such cross-party representation, so I hope that the Government will accept the amendment, which is fairly uncontroversial. It would simply add to clause 27 the phrase"““not belonging to the same political group””." In other words, we are trying to ensure cross-party representation on the commission, and I hope that the Minister can assure us that the Government will accept the amendment. I really cannot see for the life of me how they could find it controversial. On the composition of the Committees themselves, we have tabled Amendment No. 31, which would ensure that:"““The members of any committee established by the Assembly under section 28(1) shall be elected by the Assembly from among the Assembly members, and . . . shall, unless that committee exists solely to provide advice, be elected so as to secure that, as far as is practicable, the balance of the parties in the Assembly is reflected in the membership of the committee.””" It would also ensure that:"““The committees established by the Assembly under section 28(1) shall be, as far as is practicable, chaired by members of political parties in proportion to the number of members of the Assembly belonging to each party.””" As I said earlier, other amendments allude to similar issues, but here we are seeking to ensure a fair balance of representation in the Assembly. When the Assembly was set up some years ago, we were assured that it would constitute a new kind of politics. Well, in order to ensure that, it is also necessary to ensure a cross-party kind of politics. We have spent a lot of time discussing the various proportions within the Assembly and Members’ concerns about how Assembly Members are elected. Here is a chance for the Government to be consistent and to show that they really do embrace the concept of democracy that was so lauded in an earlier debate. If the Government intend to refuse to accept Amendment No. 31, they need to assure us that proper cross-party representation will none the less be genuinely enshrined within the Assembly’s structures. I do not want to pre-empt the Minister’s comments, but I hope that he will allow me to intervene if he tries to argue that the import of amendment No. 31 is already covered elsewhere in the Bill. I do not believe that it is, and I shall be rather concerned if he neither accepts the amendment nor can actually point to a specific part of the Bill in which its import already exists. I shall conclude with those few words, while retaining the option to respond to the Minister when he winds up.