, Plenary
Group 7: Welsh elections information platform (Amendments 17, 18, 31, 1, 32, 33, 34)
Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you, Counsel General. It was remiss of me not to mention Rhys ab Owen's amendment 1, which he eloquently described and that we will be supporting also. Counsel General, we recognise the commitment that the Welsh Government have…
, Plenary
Group 7: Welsh elections information platform (Amendments 17, 18, 31, 1, 32, 33, 34)
Diolch, Llywydd. I move my amendment. I want to begin by speaking to my amendments and raising my concerns surrounding the issue of the creation of a Welsh elections information platform. I think there are some issues surrounding free speech and impartiality…
, Plenary
Group 6: Diversity in persons seeking elected office (Amendment 16)
Thanks, Llywydd. So, Counsel General, whilst I understand the concern about how this will impact, perhaps, the flexibility of the survey, I think it is important that this is documented and addressed, as without doing so, more people will just not feel…
, Plenary
Group 6: Diversity in persons seeking elected office (Amendment 16)
Thank you, Llywydd. I'm sure we are all aware of the increasing levels of harassment that many candidates receive across every political party. This amendment seeks to ascertain more information as to what consideration the Minister has given to including…
, Plenary
Group 5: Assistance for voters with disabilities (Amendments 15, 30)
Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you, Counsel General, and thank you for agreeing with the principles of what we were trying to achieve in our amendments. I do think this is a missed opportunity. I hear what you're saying around secondary legislation and…
, Plenary
Group 5: Assistance for voters with disabilities (Amendments 15, 30)
Diolch, Llywydd. While I appreciate the work that Adam Price has done in advocating for partially sighted voters, amendment 15 inserts a provision that requires the rules for local elections in Wales to contain certain requirements on the facilities available…
, Plenary
Group 4: Electoral reform regulations (Amendments 13, 14)
Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you, Counsel General. Whilst we understand that you feel that these amendments are overly restrictive, it is due to the desire to have more accountability and transparency that we've tabled these amendments, and it's for that…
, Plenary
Group 4: Electoral reform regulations (Amendments 13, 14)
Diolch, Llywydd, and I do move the amendment. These amendments will ensure that regulations will not remove or create any criminal offences. I'm concerned that the Bill would give Ministers powers to modify offences through regulation rather than through…
, Plenary
Group 3: Welsh elections piloting powers and regulations (Amendments 9, 10, 11, 12)
Thank you, and thank you, once again, Counsel General, for the positive input there to our amendments, certainly amendment 11. Again, I hear your views on the other amendments, and I see little point in trying to challenge that.
, Plenary
Group 3: Welsh elections piloting powers and regulations (Amendments 9, 10, 11, 12)
Diolch, Llywydd. Amendment 9 calls for the elections cycle for local authority elections to be changed to four years, as this will avoid a clash between Senedd elections and local authority elections. As an ex-council leader, I know the importance of…
, Plenary
Group 2: Electoral registration (Amendments 7, 28, 8, 29)
Move.
, Plenary
Group 2: Electoral registration (Amendments 7, 28, 8, 29)
Thank you, Llywydd, and can I thank the Counsel General for agreeing to support our amendment 7? I appreciate that, and I acknowledge your position regarding amendment 8. I don't feel there's more I need to say, Llywydd.
, Plenary
Group 2: Electoral registration (Amendments 7, 28, 8, 29)
Diolch, Llywydd, and thank you for enabling me to take part in this important debate today. I'd also like to extend my thanks to the Bill team and everybody who's worked so hard on this, and to the Counsel General for his engagement, and I do thank you for…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
That's an interesting point. So, they have to be also well informed to be able to make the case, and I think that's where there's perhaps a deficit here: how much time do we invest in helping our parliamentary representatives understand the issues we are now…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
But the dynamic looks like it could facilitate a far better outcome for Wales, perhaps.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
Exactly.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
[Inaudible.]—a question that you'd want to answer, perhaps, but there has to be a role for our political conduits from Wales, be that our Secretaries of State or our actual residing MPs. So, when they go to Parliament, they don't just forget or abdicate the…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
Thank you. Thanks, Chair.
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
And in your experience around other countries, where those arrangements do develop, are they seen to be a more powerful entity? Are they acknowledged better as a collective from the provincial Governments?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
Yes. Could we become a more powerful entity if we did more in that respect?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
So, we can recognise the deficit. What more could we do, then, as devolved legislatures, to work together to strengthen our collective position?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
I've got a couple of questions on scrutiny, because scrutiny is a key part of all of this. Do you think that legislatures are placing enough importance on scrutinising inter-government relations, and what could they do to progress the agenda?
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
And clearly, we've heard in previous evidence too that personalities are big, important factors. So, you could have a period where it could work really well and we are lulled into a false sense of security, and then it can be destabilised, and that's where, I…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
That's one of those key planks again that are fundamental to building the case to establish that ability to manage those funding allocations. So, thank you for that. The committee has taken a lot of evidence, and one bit that was highlighted was the…
, Finance Committee
Fiscal Inter-governmental Relations: Evidence session 7
Yes. That's helpful. Through not having that, that feeds into this lack of mutual respect, doesn't it?
