Government of Wales Bill

moved Amendment No. 2: Page 27, line 27, at end insert- ““( ) The First Minister shall tender his resignation to Her Majesty if the Assembly resolves that the First Minister or the Welsh Ministers no longer enjoy the confidence of the Assembly.”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, we return to the amendment that we tabled on Report. The Minister will remember that this matter has been drawn to our attention by the organisation Tomorrow’s Wales, which is chaired by the Archbishop of Wales. It is a serious amendment because there appears to be no real ability within the Bill for the First Minister to be dismissed in circumstances where there might be a vote of no confidence in him or her in the Assembly. The amendment states: "““The First Minister shall tender his resignation to Her Majesty if the Assembly resolves that the First Minister or the Welsh Ministers no longer enjoy the confidence of the Assembly””." This would ensure that the First Minister can be removed from office by a vote of no confidence. However, at present—and in contrast to the position under the Scotland Act 1998—the First Minister is not obliged to stand down immediately if he loses a vote of confidence but only when a new First Minister is appointed. A First Minister can therefore only be removed by also electing his successor at the same time. It is a rather strange situation which corresponds with the practice in Germany, where it is known as the ““constructive vote of no confidence””. Consequently, it has the effect of significantly weakening the control of the Executive by the Assembly. I know that in Committee the Minister said, in particular, that the First Minister will remain in office, as it states in the Bill, until a successor is elected. We do not think that that is a desirable state of affairs if there is a loss of confidence in the First Minister. As to the appointment of a new First Minister, the argument is that there surely must be someone in government in between times from whom the civil servants who are the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government can derive their authority to act. It should not be too difficult to find a person within a ministerial competence of the Assembly Government to take over the role of First Minister temporarily in the interim period. We do not see why it should be that, in spite of there being a vote of no confidence, the First Minister should continue. Clearly a vote of no confidence means that the First Minister has lost the confidence of the Assembly and someone else, who might be equally able, should take the First Minister’s place in the interim to ensure that the Assembly is run properly, which should sustain the confidence of the Members of the Assembly. I beg to move.