Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, I shall be the soul of brevity, if not of wit. As the noble Lord, Lord Rowlands, has said, I am well aware that this scheme was put forward in the Richard commission report. The noble Lord recommended an increase in membership of the Assembly from 60 to 80 and the establishment of the STV system of voting in elections. But the Government have not accepted that proposal either as a whole or in part—perhaps for some of the reasons advanced by the noble Lord, Lord Trimble. Regarding the numbers of Assembly Members, we have to bear in mind that their role will be very different under this Bill. No longer will they be members of the corporate body with executive as well as legislative responsibilities; they will be Members of the legislature holding, it is hoped, Ministers to account. I do not imagine that their workload will increase appreciably in the early stages and that the proposed increase in numbers can be justified on that account. In any case, as the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, has pointed out, the Presiding Officer has stated that Assembly working hours and days can be extended to cope with an increased workload. So I humbly suggest that the proposals in these amendments are somewhat premature. They have already been considered by the Government and rejected, and indeed we debated them earlier in Committee.