Government of Wales Act 1998

56 Executive committee

(1) There shall be a committee of the Assembly whose members shall be—

(a) the Assembly First Secretary, who shall chair it, and

(b) the Assembly Secretaries.

(2) The committee shall be known by such title as the standing orders may provide (but is referred to in this Act as the executive committee).

(3) The Assembly First Secretary shall allocate accountability in the fields in which the Assembly has functions to members of the executive committee so that, in the case of each of those fields, accountability in the field is allocated either to one of the Assembly Secretaries or to him.

(4) The Assembly First Secretary need not make an allocation under subsection (3) to every member of the executive committee; but the number of Assembly Secretaries to whom no such allocation is made shall not exceed such number as may be specified in, or determined in accordance with, the standing orders.

(5) For the purposes of this section and section 57 “accountability”, in relation to a member of the executive committee and a field, means that he is the member of the executive committee accountable to the Assembly (in accordance with standing orders under subsection (7)) for the exercise of the Assembly’s functions in that field, except the exercise of functions by the executive committee (or by the Assembly itself).

(6) The Assembly First Secretary is accountable to the Assembly (in accordance with standing orders under subsection (7)) for the exercise of functions by the executive committee.

(7) The standing orders must include provision for allowing Assembly members to question (orally or in writing, as Assembly members prefer)—

(a) each member of the executive committee about the exercise of the Assembly’s functions in the field or fields in which he is accountable, except the exercise of functions by the executive committee (or by the Assembly itself), and

(b) the Assembly First Secretary about the exercise of functions by the executive committee.

(8) In this section—

(a) references to the exercise of functions by the executive committee include the exercise of functions by a sub-committee of that committee or by members of the Assembly’s staff in pursuance of a delegation to the Assembly’s staff by either that committee or such a sub-committee, and

(b) references to the exercise of functions by the Assembly itself include the exercise of functions by members of the Assembly’s staff in pursuance of a delegation to the Assembly’s staff by the Assembly itself.