Government of Wales Bill

My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, mentioned that the Scottish Parliament has moved to a simpler system of arriving at committee structure by agreement. When considering this matter, the House must bear in mind that a lot of people will watch committees of the Assembly when they legislate for primary legislation. They will be interested in the issue, as happens in Scotland. If the public see votes going on in a complicated system about how a committee should be made up, with wrangling and argument, they will not like it. I suggest that it is very much in the interests of the Assembly to have a much simpler system in which Members agree among themselves, so that there will be no wrangling in public. We in this House should consider the point of view of the electorate much more than we have so far today. Listening to the discussion about voting systems, I was horrified that it is all about what elected Members feel about how it all works and what is the theory, and nothing about what it looks like to the electorate. That is a very important point, so I support my noble friend’s amendment.