Stage 3 of the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill will take place on 30 April.
This will be the second, and likely final, opportunity for Members of the Senedd to amend the Bill. It is the third of four stages in the Senedd’s legislative process.
This article summarises the main changes made to the Bill during stage 2 in March and sets out areas where the Welsh Government offered to work on further amendments.
Stage 2 proceedings
The Committee of the Whole Senedd considered 126 tabled amendments to the Bill on 5 and 6 March 2024. 67 were agreed – 58 of which were government amendments. Seven amendments were withdrawn ahead of the stage 2 proceedings. The remaining 51 amendments were unsuccessful or withdrawn during proceedings, as explained later in this article.
58 amendments were brought forward by the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution (“the Counsel General”), 49 by Darren Millar MS, 17 by Jane Dodds MS, one by Adam Price MS and one by Heledd Fychan MS.
Increase in the maximum number of Welsh Ministers
Darren Millar MS tabled an amendment to require that regulations to increase the maximum number of Welsh Ministers from 17 to 18 or 19 must be approved by at least two-thirds of the total number of Members of the Senedd, rather than by a simple majority, as proposed in the Bill as introduced.
This amendment was successful and takes forward Recommendation 7 of the Reform Bill Committee’s stage 1 report.
A similar amendment tabled by the same Member that would have seen this regulation power removed was defeated. The Counsel General offered to work with Darren Millar on a withdrawn amendment to subject any increase to a sunset clause, meaning the maximum would return back to 17 at the end of each Senedd term.
Candidate names on ballot papers
Amendment 51, tabled by Jane Dodds MS and supported by Darren Millar MS, requires the Welsh Ministers to ensure that the names of candidates are included on ballot papers at Senedd elections. This amendment takes forward Recommendation 15 of the Reform Bill Committee’s stage 1 report.
Much of the detail about the next Senedd election will be set out in a piece of secondary legislation, known as the Conduct Order. This amendment makes it mandatory that this includes provision for names of candidates to be on ballot papers.
The Counsel General confirmed that it has always been the Welsh Government’s intention to include the names of candidates on ballot papers so he was “happy to support” this amendment.
Campaign expenditure limits
One of the most significant changes to the Bill was the inclusion of a new section relating to Senedd election campaign expenditure limits.
This amendment, tabled by the Counsel General, provides the Welsh Ministers with a regulation-making power to amend the limits for campaign expenditure for political parties in Senedd elections. The current limits are set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Welsh Ministers would only be able to exercise this power with the consent of the Electoral Commission.
Similar powers already exist for UK Ministers (in relation to UK Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly elections) and Scottish Ministers for Scottish Parliament elections. However, this was not an issue considered during the Bill’s stage 1 scrutiny.
Disqualification from Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru
Amendments 70 to 74, tabled by the Counsel General, modified the list of people who are disqualified from being members, the chief executive or a deputy commissioner of the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (as it will be renamed by the Bill).
These amendments respond to recommendations 23 and 24 of the Reform Bill Committee’s stage 1 report to expand the list of those disqualified to include employees of political parties and special advisors appointed to the Welsh, Scottish and UK governments.
Constituency names and role of the Welsh Language Commissioner
There were 14 amendments tabled by the Counsel General relating to the names of Senedd constituencies and the role that the Welsh Language Commissioner would have in the boundary review process. This was an issue considered by the Reform Bill Committee and these amendments address recommendations 32-35 of its stage 1 report.
Amendments 92 and 101 create a presumption that the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru would give each Senedd constituency a single name that could be communicated in both Welsh and English, unless it considers this would be unacceptable. In that circumstance, the Commission could give the constituency different names in both languages. The Counsel General said that the effect of these amendments in practice would mean that any single name must be acceptable to use through the medium of Welsh.
The rest of the amendments in this group are aimed at strengthening the role of the Welsh Language Commissioner as a consultee when the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru is reviewing Senedd constituency boundaries. These amendments respond to recommendations 32 and 35 of the Reform Bill Committee’s stage 1 report.
Government response to review
This amendment requires the Welsh Government to lay a response before the Senedd to a report published by a Senedd committee that could be established by section 19 of the Bill to review the operation of the legislation.
This change was recommended by the Reform Bill Committee and the Counsel General, whilst acknowledging Welsh Ministers will by convention always respond to Senedd Committee reports, said he would support the amendment to put a requirement on the face of the Bill.
Unsuccessful amendments
The majority of the amendments tabled by opposition Members were defeated. These included:
- Amendments tabled by Darren Millar MS to introduce a system of recall for Members of the Senedd. Whilst the Counsel General said that he could “see that there would be merit” in exploring a system for the Senedd, he did not support the amendments as “this is not a straightforward matter and requires careful consideration”.
- An amendment tabled by Adam Price MS to make it a criminal offence for a Member of the Senedd, or a candidate to be a Member of the Senedd, to wilfully, and with the intent to mislead, make or publish a statement which they know to be false or deceptive. The Counsel General said that whilst he would not be supporting the amendment, he does intend to write to the Standards of Conduct Committee to suggest it explores this issue. This would be as part of that Committee’s work in response to Recommendation 50 of the Reform Bill Committee’s stage 1 report to develop options for strengthening individual Members’ accountability.
- An amendment tabled by Darren Millar MS that would have required a referendum to be held before the provision in the Bill came into force. The Counsel General said that this was not needed as the case for Senedd reform had been “endorsed by three of the four political parties” in the Senedd and “has been voted for by a majority of Members of the Senedd”.
- An amendment tabled by Heledd Fychan MS to require any review undertaken under section 19 of the Bill to consider the financial support available to Members of the Senedd and political parties to undertake their duties. The Counsel General offered to engage and discuss this issue further and the amendment was not moved.
You can watch the Bill’s stage 3 proceedings (30 April) on Senedd.tv.
Article by Josh Hayman, Senedd Research, Welsh Parliament
