Plaid Cymru

Speeches and questions

Speeches and questions in Plenary and in committees, newest first. The Llywydd's and deputies' chairing of Plenary is left out.

304 speeches and questions

1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Thank you very much.
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
It's against the law.
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
But the main point is you're not supposed to use your vote twice.
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Well, the software is about the registration, isn't it? It's not about how people actually use their vote.
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
That's not right.
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
It is a balance, isn't it, of where do you put your resources. In our local authorities, some of the electoral teams have become very, very small because of cuts to public spending where councils have been protecting education and social services, quite…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Thanks. Thank you for the question. In terms of the advantages, I think that I've tried to convince you already that this is an incredibly important thing for us to be doing in Wales. It expands people's ability to use their vote if they wish to do so. I…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
That is something that we do encourage under these regulations. The schools will have data, for example—those that reach the age of 16, for example. I think that the ability to gather that data and then give young people the opportunity to register is…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Your general point regarding trying to simplify the way we collect data is one that's appropriate to be doing. In terms of these regulations, we have set which local data we're hoping that electoral officers will use, and I've written to them talking about…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
That's a really good point that you make there. It exists now, of course; it's not just related to automatic voter registration. Again, it's the mitigation that happens. There are checks and balances within the system now, aren't there? I have a similar…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
That's a very good question in terms of the data that we don't have in Wales. Certainly, our ambition would be to have access to full data sets that belong to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, for example. We're not quite there yet, are we, Michael?
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
There are—. Lots of those would be young people as well. And you know, we're ahead of the curve here in Wales in terms of bringing in automatic voter registration. I'm really proud that we're doing this, because it is enhancing our democracy, and countries…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Four hundred thousand people in Wales don't vote because they're not on the register. So, you know, they're missing out on a huge opportunity, aren't they? And many of those are young people. I think it's 48 per cent—?
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
So, the information that we, hopefully, will get now from the universities on their data, which is really up to date since September now, of all the students that they have, will make sure that we're capturing and giving them that opportunity to vote. Because…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
That's a wider point again, isn't it, that you're making, which is in the current system anyway. You know, there are checks and balances that the electoral officers do in the local authorities to try and mitigate against that. But they can't check every…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Again, that's a wider point, isn't it, about who is actually on the council tax roll and who should be on there. But we are using other data sources, and comparing other data sources, obviously with all the GDPR rules in place as well, so that we have a…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
No, absolutely. Absolutely. It is a priority for this Government to be taking care of vulnerable groups, and, in this case, domestic abuse, obviously. So, we will continue to engage with them. There will be a process of learning within this. As things are…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Yes, that's the point, really. It's a wider point than just around the regulations, isn't it? It's about raising the awareness about anonymity and the ability for you to remain anonymous but still not be disenfranchised, because at the moment that isn't used…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
The evidence in the pilot schemes suggests that, where electors chose to opt out, if that's what your concern is, or part of what you're saying at least, that the majority of them had done so within the first two, three weeks. So, it wasn't just that they'd…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
I understand your point completely. This is something that we have discussed with the Royal Mail, and we are aware of the problem. This kind of posting around the AVR would be managed through different contractual and operational routes than the normal post…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
And as somebody who represents an area that is very rural, I understand exactly that point. Of course, you can register online, but you're thinking of receiving the letter late perhaps, yes? I think that this balance between 28 and 60—. I think 28 days is…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Thank you. In the pilots—. We have learned many lessons from the pilots. They were held in Newport, Powys and Gwynedd, and in Carmarthenshire also. We're very grateful to the local authorities there that did take part in the pilots in order for us to learn…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
Just to give you some background on this, the revised regulatory impact assessment that's in the explanatory memorandum that was relaid this week reflects the current situation, and the financial assumptions and the cost estimates have been updated since the…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
So, that's what these regulations are actually about. It's about making sure that people are on the register, and, should they wish to take that up then, they can. The point you make about the specific care home, I've no idea what that would be about. But if…
1 October 2026Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
Scrutiny of the Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning on the Representation of the People (Electoral Registration without Applications) (Electoral Reform) (Wales) Regulations 2026
So, today we're talking about the automatic voter registration, which doesn't necessarily mean that people have to vote. It's about giving people that opportunity to vote, should they wish. There are too many examples. During an election, sitting in an…