Whilst my party is willing to engage in discussion and debate on the expansion in the number of Assembly Members and the other matters under the committee's remit, we believe that there must be a robust and exhaustive examination into the current role and workload of the existing AMs, which also takes into account the expansion in the workload of the Assembly as a whole. This would then inform whether there is a call for the expansion to 80 or 90 AMs, as envisaged in the expert committee report commissioned by the Welsh Government. 

Above all, the Welsh people themselves must be convinced, via the arguments put forward, that such an expansion is not just desirable but unavoidable. We as a party chose to be involved in the process by representation on the electoral reform committee because we believe such dramatic changes to the Assembly structure should be subject to rigorous scrutiny.

As has been outlined by the Chair of the committee, the committee is determined to engage with all those who shall be affected by the changes, and this, above all, will include the Welsh public at large. In order to achieve these aims, we have set out how we intend to facilitate this engagement and, indeed, have already begun this process with initial discussions with the chair of the expert panel on Assembly electoral reform, Laura McAllister, her officers, and the Llywydd and her staff. We have also hosted a round-table event with relevant stakeholders.

Our deliberations are, of course, not confined to the increase in the number of AMs. There are two other important proposals that we shall be examining in depth. The first of these is what changes may be made to increase the diversity in the Assembly, and the second being that of electoral reform. That is, the method by which Members of the Assembly shall be elected, and this will include any intended border changes that may be needed in order to implement alterations to the electoral system chosen. 

Given our deliberations so far, I'm convinced that we have an extremely competent Chair of the committee in Dawn Bowden, and there is a definite desire amongst those parties who have chosen to engage in this process to reach consensus on the way forward. Thank you.