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Government of Wales Bill

The Counsel-General may be a Member of the Assembly, but then again he may not. The option is open. We know from clause 49 that his appointment has to be ratified by the Assembly, but it is not clear how the Assembly would apply pressure, for instance, for his removal. Indeed, this applies to all the Welsh Ministers. I do not know whether it would be possible for the Welsh Assembly to move a motion for someone’s salary to be reduced or, indeed, extinguished, which is the way we in this House normally go around these things if we wish to register our displeasure with a Minister’s conduct. There are some issues of procedure. I accept that, ultimately, if the First Minister stands by a Counsel-General who is not performing adequately, that will lead to a crisis in which the Executive might be overturned by the Assembly. Nevertheless, that is a bit of a nuclear button option. In this House, we have other ways of showing clearly that someone has lost our confidence.