13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
You seem to be satisfied with that. I don't think—[Inaudible.]—who is satisfied with that.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
But many people, of course, whose main homes are in England, are on the electoral registers in Wales at their second home. So, you accept that those people ought to be eligible to be candidates for elections at the Senedd, do you, Minister?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Yes. We've heard a lot of evidence that supports the view that people who are elected to the Senedd, making laws about Wales, should reside in Wales. Many of our witnesses expressed their support for that policy and the provisions in the Bill in relation to…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Because, frankly, if one of the factors and reasons and part of the rationale for having this additional facility for an additional two is to enable coalitions to take place so that we can have stable coalitions in the future, then surely this ought to be…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Well, I would have expected you to set that out in your explanatory memorandum as to part of the rationale for putting this into the Bill, but, of course, you didn't, did you?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, why talk about coalitions?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
You seem to be bringing a completely different argument to the table now. I mean, you were suggesting earlier that the reason for this increase was if the Senedd were to be endowed with significant extra powers, then there might be a need to increase the…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Okay. Thank you.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Just to be categoric.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
It wasn't?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
But is that why you selected 10 per cent, is it?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Well, they've had their flexibility of 5 per cent to manage the job on smaller constituencies, which is more difficult. So, people, I think, will find it odd. I mean, of course, the one thing that does stand out to me is that that sort of margin would be…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, why not reduce the quota, then, if you've got all these other rules to abide by? Because, effectively, that's a licence to allow for a 30,000 difference between two constituencies.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, why not remove the quota, then?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
But you accept that that could be the peculiar result; an unintended consequence could be a constituency that has 30,000 more electors than the one it's next door to.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, you think it's fair that one constituency might have 135,000 people who are electors in it, versus another with 165,000? Because that's the sort of margin we're talking about.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
You'd expect the margin to go down the bigger a constituency is, you see.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, if I can turn, then, to this issue of the 10 per cent electoral quota margin that is built into the Bill, obviously we know that the quota margin is 5 per cent for the UK Parliament elections, and that's on a constituency size of around 75,000. A 10 per…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Two months. Okay.
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, it's going to take two months to translate it, is it?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
But they're pretty significant changes, aren't they, when there are boundary changes taking place across the UK in terms of UK Parliament elections? So why do you need six months as opposed to four? You haven't given me a reasonable—
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
So, why do you need an extra two months over and above the four months elsewhere?
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
And as you pointed out, there will be a truncated review, effectively, for the first coupling of constituencies for the 2026 elections, but thereafter things will be, obviously, much more significant, potentially, in terms of change, and it will include a…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
And in terms of the operation of the reviews that need to take place, obviously we're not just talking about a simple boundary review, are we? We're also talking about the significant changes to the electoral system, which add further complexities to the mix…
13 Rhagfyr 2023 , Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): Sesiwn dystiolaeth gyda’r Gweinidog
Yes, and of course we all know what led to the conclusions of the Special Purpose Committee on Senedd Reform—that was the instructions they were given by the First Minister and former leader of Plaid Cymru. Nevertheless, if I can turn very quickly to the…
