Thank you for the comments and questions. I will address your comments as the standards Chair first, and then on what I think is more of a constituency interest in the buses Bill.

On standards, we all understand why we have come to having a conversation about recall, following a significant sanction against a Member and our understanding of what our system should look like. That’s partly because of changes made in the UK Parliament, and partly because we all, across parties, consider that it probably should not be the way that matters are dealt with in the future. And it’s the same point around deception: it's about the point around the standards that we expect of Members, and, in that case, for candidates to the Senedd as well.

My interest is in how we have a coherent scheme for this Senedd to consider that properly takes account of the standards we expect of each other, what the public expect of us, how those choices are made, and then the consequences of those choices as well. I think there are issues to think about in terms of improvements that have been made in the UK Parliament—I think the recall process is an improvement—but also to think about areas where I would not be so keen to follow the Westminster model.

I think it has been a mistake to have a separate process for individual staff harassment that comes outside conduct of Members. The decoupling of those, I think, makes the system less coherent. I’m interested in how, working with the standards committee cross-party, we have a genuinely coherent scheme that looks at all forms of behaviour that we could and should expect of Members, that decision-making process, and then the expertise to undertake that as well.

It is no criticism of any individual who might be the standards commissioner, but you would not expect one individual to have all the understanding necessary to investigate every single potential complaint that comes in. So, it’s how we have a system that supports whoever the commissioner is to undertake their investigation. I’ve had the fortunate opportunity to be both a trade union rep and an employment lawyer, so I understand large parts of how the world of work works, including, because I was a specialist discrimination lawyer—. And actually, that can be challenging and different. There are other employment lawyers who won’t be specialists who don’t have the same understanding and expertise.

So, there’s something about how do we support whoever the commissioner is to have the right access to the right support to undertake their investigation work, and then to make sure we have a coherent scheme that meets the genuine cross-party desire to improve on our process. The Government is seriously committed to enabling the Senedd to consider that coherent scheme and for Members to be able to vote upon it before the end of this term, so it is in place for the next Senedd term in 2026.

On the bus Bill, I think this is one of the more exciting pieces of legislation that will make the difference that we often talk about. Not every member of the public is excited when they’re told that politicians are going to create a new law, but I do think this is one that will make a real practical difference across communities. Within the Member’s community that she represents, having a more coherent approach to bus services will make a real difference—and in my consistency too. Everyone in this Chamber, I think, can point to where a better system of bus regulation and support would make a bigger and better difference.

We’re proposing a new system, to move away from what is a deeply unstrategic and inefficient way of investing public money to one where we can have greater coherence and genuine work with local authorities to understand the routes that they require in a proper commissioning and franchising process, rather than, as we have now, local authorities often being left trying to rescue a route that is socially essential but isn’t necessarily always privately profitable. It will move away from simply competing for the most profitable routes and ignoring the ones of huge social value. At the moment, local authorities and the Government have all the pressure of being, if you like, the investor of last resort. We can do better, and the bus Bill, I think, will show us a way to do that in genuine partnership with colleagues across local government and beyond.