Government of Wales Act 2006

Section 27

SCHEDULE 2 Assembly Commission

Membership

1 (1) The Presiding Officer holds office as a member of the Assembly Commission until another person is elected to the office of Presiding Officer unless the Presiding Officer ceases to be an Assembly member otherwise than by reason of a dissolution.

(2) Any other member of the Assembly Commission holds office until another Assembly member is appointed as a replacement unless sub-paragraph (3) applies.

(3) This sub-paragraph applies if the person—

(a) resigns office as a member of the Assembly Commission,

(b) ceases to be an Assembly member otherwise than by reason of a dissolution, or

(c) is removed from office as a member of the Assembly Commission by the Assembly.

Property

2 The Assembly Commission may acquire, hold and dispose of property.

Staff

3 (1) The Assembly Commission may appoint staff.

(2) The Clerk and the other persons appointed by the Assembly Commission are referred to in this Act as the members of the staff of the Assembly.

(3) Employment as a member of the staff of the Assembly is not employment under the Crown (but see paragraph 12).

(4) The Assembly Commission must ensure that—

(a) the procedures for the recruitment and selection of persons as members of the staff of the Assembly are broadly in line with those applying to the recruitment and selection of persons as members of the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government, and

(b) the terms and conditions of employment of the members of the staff of the Assembly are broadly in line with those of the members of the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government.

(5) The Assembly Commission is to pay the salaries and expenses of the members of the staff of the Assembly.

(6) The Assembly Commission may make arrangements for the payment of pensions, gratuities or allowances to or in respect of anyone who has ceased to be a member of the staff of the Assembly.

(7) The Assembly Commission may, in particular, make contributions to, or payments towards the provision of, such pensions, gratuities or allowances.

(8) In Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Act 1972 (c. 11) (employments etc. to which section 1 of the Act applies), in the appropriate place in the list of “Other Bodies” insert—

“Employment as a member of the staff of the National Assembly for Wales.”

(9) The Assembly Commission must make payments to the Minister for the Civil Service, at such times as the Minister for the Civil Service may determine, of such amounts as may be so determined in respect of —

(a) the provision of pensions, allowances or gratuities by virtue of section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972 to or in respect of persons who are or have been members of the staff of the Assembly, and

(b) the expenses incurred in administering those pensions, allowances and gratuities.

Powers

4 (1) The Assembly Commission may do anything which appears to it necessary or appropriate for the purpose of, or in connection with, the discharge of its functions.

(2) That includes, in particular—

(a) entering into contracts,

(b) charging for goods or services,

(c) investing sums not immediately required for the discharge of its functions, and

(d) accepting gifts.

(3) Where (by will or otherwise) any property is (by whatever words used) expressed to be given to the Assembly, the gift takes effect as a gift to the Assembly Commission.

(4) The Assembly Commission may—

(a) sell goods or provide services to the public, or

(b) make arrangements for the sale of goods or the provision of services to the public.

(5) The Assembly Commission may borrow sums in sterling by way of overdraft or otherwise for the purpose of meeting a temporary excess of expenditure over sums otherwise available to meet expenditure.

(6) The Assembly Commission—

(a) may not borrow money otherwise than under sub-paragraph (5), and

(b) may borrow under that sub-paragraph only in accordance with special or general directions given by the Assembly to the Assembly Commission under section 27(6).

(7) The Secretary of State may by order provide that the Local Government (Contracts) Act 1997 (c. 65) applies in relation to contracts entered into by the Assembly Commission but subject to any appropriate modifications.

(8) A statutory instrument containing an order under sub-paragraph (7) is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.

Promotion of awareness of election system and devolved government

5 (1) The Assembly Commission may promote public awareness of—

(a) the current or any pending system for the election of Assembly members, and

(b) the current or any pending system of devolved government in Wales.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 6 a system is “pending” if arrangements for giving effect to it have been made by any enactment but the arrangements are not yet in force.

(3) The Assembly Commission may exercise its power under sub-paragraph (1) in such manner as it thinks fit but may, in particular, do so by—

(a) carrying out programmes of education or information to promote public awareness, or

(b) making grants to other persons or bodies for the purpose of enabling them to carry out such programmes.

(4) Any grant under sub-paragraph (3)(b) may be made subject to such conditions as the Assembly Commission considers appropriate.

6 The Assembly Commission may provide financial assistance to the Electoral Commission for the purpose of enabling it to carry out its functions under section 13(1) of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) so far as relating to the promotion of public awareness of—

(a) the current or any pending system for the election of Assembly members, and

(b) the current or any pending system of devolved government in Wales.

Delegation

7 The Assembly Commission may delegate any of its functions to—

(a) the Presiding Officer, or

(b) the Clerk.

Principles in accordance with which functions are to be exercised

8 (1) The Assembly Commission must make appropriate arrangements with a view to securing that its functions are exercised with due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people.

(2) In the exercise of the functions of the Assembly Commission due regard must be had to the principle of promoting sustainable development.

(3) In the exercise of the functions of the Assembly Commission effect must be given, so far as is both appropriate in the circumstances and reasonably practicable, to the principle that the English and Welsh languages should be treated on a basis of equality.

Annual report

9 After each financial year the Assembly Commission must—

(a) publish a report relating to the exercise of its functions during the financial year, and

(b) lay a copy of the report before the Assembly.

Validity of acts

10 The validity of any act of the Assembly Commission is not affected by—

(a) any vacancy in its membership,

(b) any defect in the appointment of any member, or

(c) any lack of qualification for membership of any member.

Proceedings

11 (1) The Assembly Commission may determine its own procedure.

(2) The Presiding Officer is to preside at meetings of the Assembly Commission but the Assembly Commission may appoint another of its members to preside if—

(a) the office of Presiding Officer is vacant, or

(b) the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.

Crown status

12 (1) Her Majesty may by Order in Council provide for the Assembly Commission to be treated to any extent as a Crown body for the purposes of any enactment.

(2) In particular, the Order in Council may for the purposes of any enactment provide—

(a) for employment as a member of the staff of the Assembly to be treated as employment by the Assembly Commission as a Crown body, or

(b) for land held, used or managed by the Assembly Commission, or operations carried out by or on behalf of the Assembly Commission, to be treated as land held, used or managed by, or operations carried out by or on behalf of, the Assembly Commission as a Crown body.

(3) For the purposes of this paragraph “Crown body” means a body which is a servant or agent of the Crown, and includes a government department.

(4) A statutory instrument containing an Order in Council under this paragraph is subject to annulment in pursuance of—

(a) a resolution of either House of Parliament, or

(b) a resolution of the Assembly.