A UNIVERSITY principal called for the number of Assembly members in Wales to be increased to 80 in a bid to deliver better services for the public.
Speaking at the All Wales Convention in Wrexham yesterday, Professor Michael Scott, Vice-Chancellor of Glyndwr University, said there was a definite need for the country to find its identity and push for improved standards.
He said: “This is an opportunity to remind ourselves of the multicultural and multilingual nature of our own country and whether or not, having made the great strides of the first years of devolution, we have actually understood the value of the new Welsh identity.
“If we are to have fuller law making powers let’s have a democratic Senedd system which in addition to the political parties has a membership of elected experts in key fields of devolved authority, in, for example, health and education.”
He added: “The proposal implies that the number of Assembly members is increased to 80 with the additional 20 members being elected from a single national list of expert and politically non-aligned candidates. The electorate would vote for these candidates at the same time as they elect their constituency and regional AMs. We have the opportunity to do something new in Wales, employing lateral thinking and determination under devolution to do certain things in our distinctive way.”
