Found: Another was the Johnson government’s introduction of new material into the Elections Bill at Commons

Found: Legislative Process: Preparing Legislation for Parliament , para 41 9 Constitution Committee, Elections Bill

Found: However, we are focused on ensuring that we have, we hope, a Bill coming—an elections Bill—subject

Found: example, at the end of the 2021-22 session, the House of Lords was simultaneously considering the Elections Bill

Found: As active participants in the consultations surrounding the Elections Bill, LDA also supported the proposals

Found: researching for this submission, I came across the contribution by Lord Stunell to the debate on the Elections Bill

Found: Our Home Our Vote was formed in 2021, in response to the changes announced by the then 2021 Elections Bill

Found: RNIB raised strong concerns about the introduction of voter ID when the Elections Bill was going through

Found: I think, certainly while the Elections Bill was being debated, and as it went through Parliament, we

Found: Stanyon: A lot of work is already going on along those lines with officials ahead of the potential elections Bill

Found: The Elections Bill 2021-22, as introduced, would have made the changes for all elections.

Found: adequacy of existing accountability structures…we will bring forward measures in the forthcoming Elections Bill

Found: Data from the 2011 Census (used in the Elections Bill EQIA (see reference 10)) shows only 66% of those

Found: Elections Bill 2021-22.

Found: Commons, UK Parliament) ____________7 Consideration of recall during the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: For example, the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: The Board noted the significance of the day with Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: non-government amendments tabled ahead of the Stage 2 Debate on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Justice updated the Board on the scrutiny that had taken place on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: The proposals in the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill would require a Senedd Committee to

Found: legislature for, and on behalf of, the people of Wales, the landmark Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: legislature for, and on behalf of, the people of Wales, the landmark Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill was introduced in September 2023 to deliver the majority

Found: Tuesday there would be voting throughout the debate on Stage 3 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: 3.2 The Trefnydd and Chief Whip reminded Cabinet that Stage 4 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Members of the Senedd voted to pass the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill in the week that marks

Found: followed by a Committee of the Whole Senedd to consider stage 2 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: list electoral system in the Reform Bill (I take this to mean the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Our response A series of impact assessments related to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Affordability Assessment in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: As the changes provided for by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill are wide-ranging we agree

Found: As the changes provided for by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill are wide-ranging we agree

Found: Candidate Lists) Bill is part of a wider package of reform, including the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: integrated statutory gender quotas to the system provided for in the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: positive effects, together with the positive effects as a result of theSenedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: A Senedd election takes place once every 5 years, though the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: WG-Senedd Reform which covered other reform measures provided for in the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: However, I believe you are referring to the vote on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill, which

Found: However, as detailed in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Affordability Assessment in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Legislative Programme Year Three Bills introduced The time critical Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Impact Assessment in the Explanatory Memorandum that accompanied the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Senedd reform We have introduced the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill.

Found: . • Introduced the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill to the Senedd which, if agreed, will make

Found: Item 3: Gender Quotas - Welsh Government An overview of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Item 2: First Minister's items Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill 2.1 The First Minister informed

Question

Further to WQ92784, will the Counsel General provide an estimated timetable for giving a further update to the Reform Bill Committee in accordance with the commitment to update Members in the Government's response to recommendation 18 of the Committee's Stage 1 report on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill?

Answered by Counsel General

A further update will be provided on the development and co-ordination of public information and awareness-raising campaigns after the summer recess. This follows an update previously provided in response to recommendation 18 as part of the written response to the Committee’s recommendations, on 26 January 2024, and an update in response to WQ92784 previously provided on 15 May 2024. As noted in the response to WQ92784, the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill receiving Royal Assent will be a significant milestone in enabling the preparation of such campaigns.

Question

Will the Counsel General provide an update on achievement of recommendation 18 from the Reform Bill Committee's Stage 1 report on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill?

Answered by Counsel General

Welsh Government officials have convened a Senedd Electoral Reform Delivery Board, and engagement with key partners is taking place through such, including on the issue of coordinating national and local public information and awareness-raising campaigns about the electoral reforms. The Board meets on a bimonthly basis.

A number of organisations also have roles and statutory responsibilities in this respect, including the Senedd Commission, the Electoral Commission and Local Authorities. The Electoral Management Board will also have a role to play if the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill is passed by the Senedd. It is important that each organisations’ individual statutory duties and powers are respected. At the same time, there is a common desire to ensure national and local public information and awareness-raising campaigns about the electoral reforms are planned and co-ordinated effectively and efficiently, to avoid duplication and amplify the effectiveness of those campaigns.

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill receiving Royal Assent will be a significant milestone in enabling the preparation of such campaigns. Costs associated with public information and awareness-raising were previously considered as part of the Bill’s Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Question

Does the Counsel General expect the Welsh Government's proposals for electoral reform and Senedd expansion to increase turnout at Senedd elections?

Answered by Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill seeks to ensure that no Member will be returned through a disproportionate first-past-the-post system, facilitating a Senedd that more accurately represents the choice of voters expressed at an election.

By providing a single route to election, as opposed to the current mixed-member approach, we are creating a simplified, consistent system that is familiar and easily understandable to voters.

Question

Is the Welsh Government open to abandoning the closed lists system that is part of its proposed Senedd reforms, following the Chair of the Expert Panel on Electoral reform stating that the system would put too much power in the hands of parties and erode trust in politicians?

Answered by Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill, as introduced to the Senedd, is a carefully calibrated package of measures, including closed proportional lists, which responds to the recommendations of the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform, which were endorsed by Members of the Senedd.

The Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Senedd.

As the First Minister and former Chair of the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform have noted in their written evidence to the Reform Bill Committee, a key element of the committee’s remit was to make recommendations for a package of reform measures that carried the support of two-thirds of the current Members of the Senedd.

The recommendation of a closed proportional list system was made on the basis that the required super-majority within the Senedd considered it to be the most appropriate system for Senedd elections. It was subsequently endorsed by two-thirds of Senedd Members, and I am confident that remains the case.

This work is being carried out as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Question

Will the Counsel General provide an update on the consolidation and remaking of The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007, and what proposed changes have been considered so far?

Answered by Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

As you are aware The National Assembly for Wales (Representation of the People) Order 2007, more commonly referred to as the Conduct Order sets out the detailed rules for conducting elections to the Senedd. It sets out the way in which the election and the election campaign are conducted, including provisions for legal challenge to the election.

As the Conduct Order has previously been reviewed and amended before each Senedd election and as the original Order was made in 2007, this represents a valuable opportunity for us to consolidate and re-state the law as part of an accessible, bilingual framework for the first time. 

In doing so, we will take account of the principles set out in the Legislation (Wales) Act 2019, and seek to produce an Order using modern and clear language which is accessible to the reader. This reflects our ambition to deliver an accessible, bilingual legislative framework and modernising electoral law.

As you are aware, two Bills related to electoral reforms (the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill and the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill) are currently being scrutinised by the Senedd. Subject to the Senedd approving both Bills, the Government intends to give further effect to the changes introduced in both Bills through the detailed Articles and Rules contained in the Conduct Order.  For example, the Government intends to give further effect to certain policies in the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill by updating the detailed rules relating to campaign finance arrangements, provide  improved accessibility for voters, and modernise the undue influence offence. The Government also intends to include changes to the rules for Senedd elections made necessary by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill.

The Government intends to consult on a draft version of the Conduct Order incorporating these changes in the Autumn of 2024.   

I have written to the Chair of the Senedd Reform Bill Committee this month to provide an outline of the plans for the Conduct Order.

Question

What assessment has the Counsel General made of the costs of establishing a Senedd committee for the post-implementation review of the operation of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill in 2026 and 2032, as set out in the Bill and is this included in the Bill's costings?

Answered by Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

Whilst Section 19 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill would require the Llywydd to table a motion proposing to establish a committee to undertake a post-implementation review, it will of course be for the Senedd itself to determine whether or not to support such a motion.

The Bill would not preclude the Senedd from deciding to include this review work within the wider remit of a committee established at the start of the Seventh Senedd – it would not need to be remitted to a dedicated committee. Therefore, the potential costs associated with the discharge of any such requirement are entirely dependent on future decisions taken by the Seventh Senedd.

A series of “common assumptions” agreed by the Senedd Commission in consultation with the Business Committee and Independent Remuneration Board set out a “minimal change” scenario, which could include one additional Senedd Committee, and a “greater change” scenario which could include three additional Senedd Committees. The costs associated with these scenarios are set out in the Regulatory Impact Assessment.

This work is being carried out in collaboration with Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, leader of Plaid Cymru, as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Question

How was it decided that there should be 96 Senedd Members, given the report A Parliament that Works for Wales by the Expert Panel on Assembly Electoral Reform's assessment that there would be less return for the costs beyond 90 Members and recommended between 80 and 90 Members?

Answered by Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill sets out that the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform considered that the size of the Senedd should be increased to 96 Members, and that this was marginally beyond the range of 80 to 90 previously recommended by the Expert Panel in 2017. The Special Purpose Committee believed this increase to be a proportionate adjustment, in light of the wide array of changes in the political landscape of Wales since the Expert Panel reported. The committee noted, for example, that the responsibilities of the Welsh Government and the Senedd had increased since the time of the panel’s report, primarily as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. In addition, as a result of the pandemic, public awareness of the Senedd’s and Welsh Government’s responsibilities was believed to have significantly increased, providing opportunities for greater public engagement.

This work is being carried out in collaboration with Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, leader of Plaid Cymru, as part of the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

By delaying the implementation of the act, there would be time to fully consult with the public and see what they really think of the cost and the benefits.
The Welsh Government has admitted that, “in the timescale available for developing the legislation it was not possible to undertake its own open public consultation on either the general concepts of Senedd Reform or a draft Bill.”
- Page 91 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill https://senedd.wales/media/ixjdywtx/pri-ld16037-em-e.pdf

Found: ” - Page 91 of the Explanatory Memorandum to the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill https://senedd.wales

Found: the UK’s departure from the European Union and the recently passed Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill - Bill Summary 05/24

Found: Government’s wider programme of electoral reform, which includes the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: ...................................................................9Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Found: In September 2023, the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill was introduced into the Senedd.