Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased to move the motion, tabled in my name.

The sole purpose of this afternoon's debate is to seek agreement that a special meeting of the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister takes place as soon as possible to investigate the allegations of bullying made by former members and advisers to the Welsh Government, and to get to the truth about these serious allegations.

Members are all aware of the recent allegations made against the Welsh Government and the office of the First Minister and it's absolutely crucial that those allegations are properly investigated in an open and transparent manner. Clarity is now required from the First Minister over his comments in recent weeks, and I believe it's entirely appropriate for that to happen as part of an inquiry undertaken by the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister.

Before I develop my argument and speak specifically to this motion, if I can turn to the Government's amendment, which refers to the First Minister's statement last week on the appointment of an independent adviser to police the ministerial code. Of course, that announcement was made after this debate was tabled and even though this is a step in the right direction, we still believe that these allegations should be subject to the scrutiny of the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister.

Members will be aware of the cross-party motion that was tabled in my name, alongside Aled Roberts and Elin Jones in the previous Assembly in 2014, which specifically called for the appointment of an independent adjudicator in order to improve transparency and thereby increase confidence in those elected to public office. The Welsh Government rejected that motion at that time, but the First Minister has now come to the conclusion that this is the right thing to do. However, I have to say that the timing of this is very suspect and it's quite clear that it is opposition parties that have led on this, while the First Minister and the Welsh Government have followed.

Even though I welcome the First Minister's u-turn, I still believe that it's appropriate for the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister to hold an inquiry into the allegations, because we don't, at this stage, know the terms of reference for the independent adviser's inquiry. At least with the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister, it will be totally transparent and held in public.

The committee process will afford the First Minister the opportunity to categorically spell out the nature of the allegations that his office received and to provide much-needed detail and clarification to some of the remarks made in recent weeks.