I too welcome the report of the expert panel on Assembly electoral reform, and I congratulate everyone who has been involved in the work, and I congratulate the Commission and the Llywydd for commissioning the work in the first place and moving with a sense of urgency following receipt of the Wales Act 2017, which makes all of this possible at last. Without that Act, of course, we wouldn't be in this place discussing this.

The next step is to hold a wide-ranging consultation on these issues that are contained in the report, not only about the number of Assembly Members—I'm slightly concerned that the discussion will focus on that, the number of Assembly Members and whether we need to increase the number of Assembly Members, and that that will dominate the discussion. We also need to emphasise the other important issues that are mentioned in the report. I believe that we need new arrangements. It was a small percentage that voted in the by-election on Deeside yesterday, and even though Simon might not be overly concerned about that, I do think that it does show that there needs to be change and that people need to feel that there is a value to their vote and that people feel that the people who are elected genuinely do represent the whole population.

Recommendations 14 to 16 include lowering the voting age to those aged 16 and over, and of course we need the political education to go along with that. I'm pleased to see that recommendations 15 and 16 refer to that. There are many young people who are eager to vote, and I very much hope that this aspect of the report will receive approval, certainly the approval of young people, and hopefully the approval of everyone who is concerned about the future of our nation.

Recommendation 10: I have a particular interest in this as spokesperson on equality for Plaid Cymru. Recommendation 10, of course, is the recommendation that talks about a gender balance representation, and recommendation 10 suggests that there should be a gender quota integrated with any electoral system put in place for 2021. Certainly, I do believe that we need to have a gender balance through legislation and that this Assembly should lead the way in Wales so that public bodies follow in our footsteps and so we avoid internal party-political arguments, because that's the kind of thing that tends to happen when we leave it to the individual parties. We need statute here.

I would encourage everyone to take part in the consultation and in this debate, and I do very much hope that it will encourage discussion and debate about the Assembly itself and that it will educate people about the value of the Assembly and also encourage a wider debate about the role of women in public life in Wales.