, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Well, you make a partly valid case in the sense that the Electoral Commission did a lot of work to tell people, but there are still many people who actually weren't aware. Where you have to go back to is, of course: what was the motivation for introducing…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for that question and those comments. I think there is an amount of very transformative legislation that has been going through the Senedd, which started at the beginning of the session, and that is that not only are we reforming the Senedd and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
It is estimated that up to 400,000 eligible Welsh citizens may not be properly registered to vote in local government and Senedd elections, and I've raised my concerns with the Electoral Commission. This is one of the reasons that we will be introducing the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you very much for the question.
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for the well-intended question. I'm not sure where your confusion arises or where the purported ambiguity arises. As I say, the purpose of this Bill is to work towards a more effective Senedd, achieve some better gender balance. The Bill sets out…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
The Bill does not use the term 'man'. The quota rules deal with the proportion and placement of women on lists of candidates to be Members of the Senedd. The Bill is not about defining a woman, or defining a man.
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Again, thank you for your question. The issue of legal action—I’ll take that last point first—of course, is one where we took legal action and, of course, we had the single-use plastics legislation that went forward and, of course, the UK Government chose not…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for your question. The Welsh Government remains of the view that the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is offensive to Wales as it seeks to severely undermine the powers of the democratically elected Senedd. The issues with the deposit-return…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
You make an extremely important point. The fact that you have an election that’s been established for police and crime commissioners who have a particular function to carry out, and unlike any other election, where candidates have the right to a certain…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Well, thank you for this ongoing issue. Of course, there has been a lot of comment on the recent council elections, particularly in England. Of course, the police and crime commissioner elections in Wales had very low turnout, because they were the sole…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for your question. Not unexpectedly, turnout at the recent police and crime commissioner elections in Wales was low. Of the numerous reasons for this, poor public engagement around these elections is obvious. To strengthen public engagement in…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
I certainly agree with that latter point, which is why I actually think that, in the area in terms of issues of recall, in the issues of standards, and the issue in terms of deception, having a properly considered piece of legislation and scrutinised piece of…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Well, thank you for those comments. Of course, when the amendment came in, there was barely a couple of days' notice to actually give consideration to that. So, it is a concern to have significant legislation that comes in that has not already had that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Well, thank you for that. On the amendment, as you will know from the contributions I made during that Stage 2 session, I have very serious concerns about that, in connection with whether it will be in competence, together with the issue of the rule of law…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
I agree with those latter points that you've made on this, and I think the intention is that the issue of school exclusions is a matter that will come into the tribunals in due course. Whether it comes in right at the first instance is another matter. As you…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
The independence of tribunals is something that has come up on a number of occasions, not only in the consultation but also in discussions with the new president of tribunals, Sir Gary Hickinbottom, who I am meeting later this week. There is absolutely no…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you. Again, that's a very important question, because, following on from the Law Commission recommendations, legislation is in preparation in respect of those recommendations, with a view to a tribunal Bill, to implement the work the Law Commission has…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for those points. Perhaps following on from some of the earlier comments made by the First Minister, we have, of course, as a Government, been advocating the need for appropriate regulation and an appropriate governance and assurance mechanism…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for that question. The rise of AI will create opportunities, but it will also create significant ethical challenges. The Welsh Government recognises the significant economic, public service delivery and wider social benefits that could be gained…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for the question and the very important points that you raised. The former Minister for social justice and I visited Berwyn and other prisons to look at a lot of the issues that you've raised. You're correct to say that there's been a continued…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for that very pertinent question. The recent deaths are deeply concerning, and I would certainly like to offer my condolences to those affected. There have been, I understand, a total of nine deaths within the past two months at His Majesty's Prison…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General
Thank you for your question. We continue to support the devolution of policing and justice to Wales, as recommended by numerous independent commissions over the years, including most recently by the constitutional commission.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 18: Review of Act (Amendments 94, 95)
Diolch, Chair. I'm not supporting amendments 94 and 95. We will undertake a post-implementation review of the operation and impact of this legislation, as is our customary practice. As set out in the explanatory memorandum to the Bill, the Welsh Government…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 17: Disqualification from being a Member of Senedd Cymru or local government (Amendments 112, 113, 10, 114, 125, 126, 128, 129)
Doesn't it become—? Isn't the issue that what you want is, actually, a standard in respect of deception that is effective, whether that's criminal, whether it is civil, and that would apply to all the analogies that you gave earlier? It's not right for me to…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 17: Disqualification from being a Member of Senedd Cymru or local government (Amendments 112, 113, 10, 114, 125, 126, 128, 129)
It will deal with the issue of deception. It will deal with the issue of recall. It might deal with additional issues that relate to standards as well.
