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Government of Wales Bill

I am grateful to the noble Lord for having read out the relevant part of the letter from Jane Hutt on the amendment, because in principle I support the thoughts behind the amendment. Indeed, the spirit of co-operation is enormous and the contribution of the voluntary sector is huge. I must declare an interest, working in the hospice sector, but I also sound a little warning that if we are not careful to ensure that there really is a good mechanism for the Assembly and the voluntary sector—I personally would like to see something in the Bill—there is a danger of different parts of the voluntary sector going and doing their own thing. Some parts of the voluntary sector are driven by powerful personalities with enormous energy that can be harnessed for the public good, but, unfortunately, when they compete for funds they can have a tendency to compete directly with a similar provider adjacent to them, which can create local friction. The Assembly has done an astoundingly good job at harnessing the energy of all the voluntary sector providers. I want to make sure that that is not lost. While the wording of the amendment may not be perfect, I hope that the Minister will agree to consider the principle behind it to ensure that what has been achieved is not lost as the Bill passes.