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Government of Wales Bill

Very briefly, I note that Clause 64 highlights the concentration of initiating power in the hands of Ministers so far as polls for ascertaining the views of the public are concerned. Other clauses in Part 2 describe their powers to perform all kinds of functions, including the initiation of secondary legislation. The Assembly’s role is largely confined to approval or disapproval. That is something of a change from the past and from previous legislation. Clearly, the Liberal Democrats would like the Assembly to have the independent right, if it commands the support of most Assembly members, to have a poll on a subject of its own choice, not on one chosen by Ministers, and to have full control. I am not clear; is that at all permissible under the Bill? Incidental to our earlier debate about the use of the word ““Senedd””, which appears in the amendment, I notice that the official programme for the opening of the new building, which some of us attended on St David’s Day, actually refers to the Senedd of the National Assembly for Wales. It does not describe the Assembly itself as the Senedd, so the Senedd is an undefined part or aspect of the Assembly, according to the programme of that great event—the opening of the new building.