, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Sorry, I beg your pardon?
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I don't think there will be, because I think the criteria that the democracy and boundary commission have don't allow for that level of change to take place other than within the criteria that have already been set. Did you want to—?
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Well, the intention isn't to create constituencies of different sizes, but to allow the flexibility in terms of changes that need to take place within a constituency because of changes occurring within the population, within demography.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Well, I think you have to look ahead to potential change, demographic change, franchise change and so on. The current 5 per cent that exists with parliamentary boundaries—well, those are the boundaries that we're using for the purpose of the 2026 elections…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I think it's because—
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Yes.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I think just to ensure that there's adequate time to deal with all the issues that arise from it. I'm sure, if we can do it more quickly, that we will happily do so.
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
In terms of the administration of the elections, the organisation of the elections, I'm very confident. I've been very impressed by the expertise in place. And also the restructure in terms of the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, but also…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I think you're right to be concerned in terms of the tight timetable, and, in fact, there is very little room for slippage. The main reason for that is I'm absolutely determined that we are fully compliant with the Gould convention, which requires everything…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Well, it's not the Government that wants to pursue this particular reform—this is a reform that comes from the Senedd itself. My role as Counsel General and the Minister responsible for taking this Bill forward is to convert into legislation the…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
Well, there has been extensive discussion of these reforms, through a whole variety of commissions. There is, more broadly, engagement with stakeholders in terms of the reforms and the implications those will have. And there's obviously considerable scrutiny…
, Reform Bill Committee
Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: Ministerial evidence session
I'll ask them to identify themselves.
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I—
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
The subsequent leader crashed our economy and still fails to take any responsibility for the pain this caused to families. The current leader and Prime Minister is now looking to undermine international law again, as he is completely beholden to the extreme…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, can I say how surprised I am that the Member is so concerned about turnout and hasn't spoken out when we had the discussions here on the introduction of ID cards, which were essentially about voter suppression and actually restricting entitlement to…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
The Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill will significantly increase the scrutiny capacity of the Senedd. It will enable Members in whom the public have placed their trust to more effectively scrutinise policy, legislation and spending plans, and to hold…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, thank you for those supplementary comments. Of course, on a number of occasions in the past, we've used the powers that we've had, for example in the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017, the Agriculture (Wales) Act 2023 and in other legislation, to try and…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
As is the case with any question on legislative competence, context is key. Whilst employment and industrial relations are expressed as a reservation in the government of Wales Act 2017, whether any aspect relates to that reservation or not depends on the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for that supplementary question. It's something that we do at every stage possible in terms of the engagement that we have. As you know, we were firstly opposed to the retained EU law legislation and, of course, the further legislation that has…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
The default sunsetting of retained European Union law was replaced with a specific list of redundant legislation in Schedule 1 to the Act to be revoked at the end of 2023. We remain concerned about how UK Government Ministers might use powers under the Act…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Well, I think it's because UK Government made a very major mistake and doesn't want to do what is necessary in order to rectify it. What we have to recognise is these women have endured gender inequality throughout their lives. They're women born in the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you. The Welsh Government has repeatedly expressed concerns to the UK Government about women who had their state pension age raised without effective or sufficient notification, and will continue to do so. The ombudsman's revised investigation report is…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for your supplementary question, and I was grateful, really, with your facilitation, to be able to meet with the Hillsborough victims in Liverpool several months ago and it was a very moving meeting. I think what was disappointing is that the…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Thank you for the question. Officials have met with UK Government counterparts on a number of occasions. I have raised key aspects of this Bill with UK Government Ministers. We continue to seek to ensure that provisions within this Bill meet our aspirations…
, Plenary
Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution
Can I, firstly, thank you for the determination with which you continue to raise this particular issue? I doubt whether there's anyone in this Chamber who doesn't know someone who's been affected by changes that were not about, necessarily, the equalisation…
