DAILY POST: Vital move to ensure AMs receive public's trust; YOUR VOICE IN WALES.

PLANS are afoot to create a commissioner with far more rigorous powers to investigate the standards of conduct of Assembly Members.

Let's hope it gets the go ahead because there appears to be a significant loophole at the moment which needs closing.

As things stand, members of the Welsh Assembly cannot be forced to co-operate with an investigation mounted into their financial affairs or any other potential breaches of their code of conduct.

This means that while it may be illegal for them to behave in a financially improper way, AMs can opt out of being properly scrutinised by simply refusing to hand over relevant documents and refusing to give evidence.

In future, should the proposed Measure become law, AMs would have a legal obligation to co-operate fully or risk a fine of pounds 5,000 or three months in jail or both.

The situation has not so far arisen but if an AM did exploit the current loophole to obscure possible wrongdoing, the damage to the standing of the Assembly and its members would be huge.

This move to tighten up the rules comes at a time when the Welsh public is being asked to consider whether it would back granting further law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly.

Any such support would need to be underpinned by public trust in AMs and in the process of scrutiny that would follow should there be reason to believe that trust had been misplaced.