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Government of Wales Bill

I shall first speak to Amendment No. 26, standing in the names of the noble Lords, Lord Livsey of Talgarth, Lord Thomas of Gresford and Lord Roberts of Llandudno. Clause 25 requires the Assembly to elect a presiding officer and deputy presiding officer at its first meeting following a Welsh general election. The amendment changes that provision into a requirement to elect an acting presiding officer. It then requires the Assembly to elect its presiding officer and deputy at a later meeting, within 28 days following the election. The Government are sympathetic to the concern that, on occasion, it may not prove possible to reach broad agreement between the political groups in the Assembly on who should be nominated for these positions in time for the first meeting. However, the clause already allows the Assembly, in effect, to elect an acting presiding officer and deputy. Those officers could then either resign or be removed from office by the Assembly, if necessary, once agreement had been reached on the final nominations for those positions. The amendment is therefore unnecessary and there is no need to place an obligation on the Assembly to hold two presiding officer elections within the space of four weeks following the general election, even if it is able to reach an early consensus on the appointments. It would also leave the Assembly without a deputy presiding officer until the second election was held. I now turn to Amendment No. 27. In the Government’s view, this amendment is also unnecessary. Clause 25 does not prevent either the presiding officer or the deputy presiding officer belonging to a party in government and the other to a party in opposition. That is also the position under the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the current Standing Orders. Clause 25 provides that the governing party or parties cannot also occupy the roles of both presiding officer and deputy presiding officer, as that could lead to charges that the office was not entirely independent. However, at the current Assembly’s request, the flexibility of changing this rule by a two-thirds vote was added. These provisions carry forward what is in the Government of Wales Act 1998, but in addition they recognise the possibility of an administration being formed from more than one party. Clause 25(7) contains provisions designed to ensure that the responsibilities of being presiding officer and deputy presiding officer do not all fall to one political group, or to political groups from which Ministers have been appointed, unless the Assembly resolves otherwise under Clause 25(9). This amendment would also place an additional restriction on the political groups from which the presiding officer and deputy presiding officer could be elected. If the amendment were accepted, if the presiding officer belonged to a political group in opposition in the Assembly, the deputy would have to belong to a political group in government, or vice versa, unless the Assembly resolved otherwise. Of course, another consequence of a member being elected to the role of presiding officer or deputy presiding officer is that they may not be able to vote in proceedings. I understand the concern that the governing party or parties should not be able to deprive the opposition of two votes in this way while not losing any on their side. However, I hope I have explained clearly that it is already possible to avoid this situation under the clause. I hope that noble Lords will be satisfied with my explanation and assurances that the provision provides the flexibility that I think we all believe is necessary.