, 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)
The First Minister made a very clear commitment in the Senedd on Tuesday that he wanted legislation, and he was committed to legislation being in place for 2026. I reiterate that commitment. I reiterate the fact that I will work with that. Whether it's the…
, 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)
Chair—. Listen, I didn't interrupt you when you were speaking.
, 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)
Please let me finish what I'm saying—
, 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)
The First Minister has said that is the way he wants to see it done, and that is the—
, 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)
I think any further amendment would be to actually refer this to the standards committee to do it. The—
, 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)
—that that is the appropriate course. Don't forget, what this Bill actually does is it says, 'Here we are, we're creating the offence; we know there's a lot of issues, so what we'll do is we'll hand it all over to Welsh Government and give you 12 months 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)
Well, I'm not only upbeat, I'm confident that if it's priority, and it's a priority that's been identified by the First Minister—
, 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)
Yes.
, 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)
The point I'm making is that the most effective way to deliver good legislation and effective legislation is not via this amendment, which I think has inherently a whole series of potential flaws, but is actually through the appropriate committee in any…
, 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)
Honesty is an overarching principle in the code of conduct for Members, and the truthfulness of Members sits at the heart of the standards by which we must be held. Trust is fundamental to the proper functioning of democracy in Wales. At the same time, we…
, 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)
Thank you, Chair. I've listened carefully, and of course we've had quite a number of discussions over the period of time. I'll deal with a number of other issues first of all. I do not support amendments 112, 113 and 114 tabled by Peter Fox. Amendment 112…
, 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)
Back to Kyiv. [Laughter.]
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 16: Abolition of the Independent Remuneration Board of the Senedd (Amendment 6)
Thank you, Chair. Well, this issue was indeed discussed during Stage 1, and there were strong arguments made in favour of looking again at the Senedd's remuneration arrangements. I will not, as I think Members will understand, be supporting amendment 6, which…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 15: Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru - membership (Amendments 46, 41, 42)
No. I'm happy to move to a vote.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 15: Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru - membership (Amendments 46, 41, 42)
Diolch, Cadeirydd. Amendment 41 adds exclusions to the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru so as to ensure impartiality in relation to the new independent remuneration panel functions that have been provided to the DBCC via this Bill. These exclusions are…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 14: Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru – functions relating to remuneration of elected Members (Amendments 40, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 96, 97)
Thank you for those comments. I'm not sure I can give a very full answer to the point that was raised in terms of the reviews, although it seems to me there is a primary function in respect of the Senedd Commission and Commissioners themselves in respect of…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 14: Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru – functions relating to remuneration of elected Members (Amendments 40, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 96, 97)
Diolch yn fawr, Cadeirydd. I welcome the opportunity to open the debate on this group of amendments, which are concerned with the Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru functions relating to renumeration. The first amendment, amendment 40, is tabled in my…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 13: Publication of contact details for community councils (Amendment 123)
Diolch, Chair. I'm not going to be supporting amendment 123 requiring a principal council to detail communities and community councils in its area. Section 54(2) of the Bill requires each principal council to publish and maintain on its website an up-to-date…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 12: Electoral arrangements reviews (Amendments 122, 37, 38, 39)
Thank you, Chair. I thank Adam Price for opening this debate on this particular group. Can I just say that I'm not going to be supporting the amendment, but again I'd just make the point that I'm open to further exploration? I think that the steps that were…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 11: Campaign finance (Amendments 33, 34, 35, 36, 47, 48)
Yes, of course. Basically, it's a concessionary amendment that's made in response to recommendation 15 of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee report at Stage 1 scrutiny.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 11: Campaign finance (Amendments 33, 34, 35, 36, 47, 48)
Diolch yn fawr, Cadeirydd. The amendments in this group are all tabled in my name. Amendments 33 to 35 are about campaign finance and are in response to the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee recommendation 15 during Stage 1 scrutiny and are…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 10: Welsh language requirements for returning officers (Amendments 4, 5)
Well, can I firstly thank the Member for the amendments and for all the comments that he has made? I'm not going to be supporting amendments 4 and 5. I'll explain perhaps a little bit more about the reasoning behind that, and what I would hope is that there…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 9: Financial assistance scheme – operation (Amendments 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
No, Chair.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 9: Financial assistance scheme – operation (Amendments 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
Diolch yn fawr, Chair—Cadeirydd. These are a set of amendments to clarify matters related to persons excluded from operating a financial assistance scheme. Amendment 25 clarifies that excluded persons are excluded for the duration of the scheme, not just on…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Group 8: Welsh elections information platform (Amendments 108, 109, 49, 50, 51, 118, 119, 120)
Well, thank you, Chair. Thank you, Peter Fox, and also Adam, because it is a very important area that you've raised. Peter Fox's amendment 108 would remove the duty on the Welsh Ministers to provide an elections information platform, and we've made a…
