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Government of Wales Bill

As it appears to be fashionable to declare a few interests, I shall start by saying that I am also a vice-president of the Hay literary festival, but I had no idea that I shared that great honour with the noble Lord, Lord Livsey. I have been chairman of the Royal Court Theatre and various quangos relating to libraries, museums and archives, I have served on Arts Council committees, and my father’s papers are deposited at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Many of the interesting arguments that I have heard this afternoon are arguments that I have had in many discussions about government funding of the arts, the arm’s-length principle and what duties and responsibilities government has in relation to organisations it funds. I am not going to give a great deal of comfort to my noble friend Lord Temple-Morris and other noble Lords who agree with him, because I agree with my noble friend Lord Richard that this is a matter for the Assembly. If, as the noble Lord, Lord Roberts, suggested, it has made an error of judgment, so be it. The great advantage of this debate is that there is a lot of material on record that Assembly Members will be able to reflect on.