, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you, Alistair. I think Mark's computer has done as it threatened to and restarted itself, so it's a good job that he asked you all those questions in one go. I'll just check with other Members if there are any addition questions that they wish to pose…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you, Pred. I'll bring in Mark Drakeford now.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. I'll bring in Peredur Owen Griffiths now with a series of questions for you.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. And one final question from me. I think it's impossible to look at the issue of recall without touching on disqualification, and for us to be assured that the processes that we've got around disqualification are right as well. So, with that in…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. I appreciate your views on that. Do you feel that the triggering of a petition should be subject to a vote in the whole of the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, rather than just a decision taken by the standards committee? And if you do think that it…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you, Alistair. If I could link in with your last comment there, and take us back to the process of a possible petition, you said yourself that it's a very serious process. With that in mind, do you feel that a Member should have a right to appeal…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. I'll bring Natasha in now.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. And, of course, one key difference between the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament and Westminster is the fact that we have Members who are elected on a proportional representation basis, and, post Senedd reform, that will be applicable to all Members…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
Thank you. If I can begin, then, with some questions around triggering a petition, and I know you have already given evidence to our sister committee, the Reform Bill Committee, on this. So, in your view, what sorts of circumstances are the appropriate ones…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 5
So, we are now on our fifth evidence session of our inquiry into individual Member accountability, and it's my pleasure to welcome Alistair Clark to the meeting this morning. If I could ask you, Alistair, to give a short introduction to yourself and your…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Introductions, apologies and substitutions
Welcome, everyone, to this meeting of the Senedd Standards of Conduct Committee. This meeting is bilingual and interpretation is available. We have no apologies this morning, and can I just check with Members if there are any declarations of registrable…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you, First Minister. Now, the UK Tory Government's shared prosperity fund was, of course, billed as one of their key schemes to replace European Union funding lost after Brexit, and we know how important this funding is to Wales. Of course, we learnt in…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
2. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the impact that the different outcomes of the UK general election will have on Wales? OQ61260
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Motion under Standing Order 17.42 to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting
Okay. So, I propose, in accordance with Standing Order 17.42(vi), to resolve to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting. Are Members content to agree the motion? Members are. In that case, now, we will continue in private.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you, Professor Tonge.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you, Natasha. Professor Tonge, your evidence has been really invaluable to us this morning. We thank you for taking the time to come and speak with us, and I think you've laid down the gauntlet to us now. We could say that one mark of success for us as…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Okay. Thank you, Mark. I'll bring in Natasha Asghar now. Natasha.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you, Pred. I'll bring in Mark Drakeford now, then. Mark.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you. I'll hand over now to Peredur Owen Griffiths. Pred.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
One final question from me before I pass on to other Members. We've been focusing so far in our discussions with you on what would be perceived as misbehaviour, wrongdoings, but at the heart of a recall mechanism is of course the issue of democracy. And so I…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Just before I bring Pred in, just to clarify, you feel that the current system of a custodial sentence of 12 months or longer is where we should be for disqualification, and that any custodial sentence less than 12 months could fall under recall.
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you. If I can focus now on the interface between recall and disqualification. Currently in the Senedd, the same as in Westminster, any prison sentence that's 12 months or longer would trigger disqualification. Do you think that the matters that…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Thank you. That's very useful for us. And just to take you back to this idea of a tapered approach, would you be encouraging us as a committee to look at the range of sanctions that we have on offer to us currently, to see whether they need to be broadened in…
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
That's really interesting. Have you got any thoughts around how that tapered area between 10 and, say, 30 days might work in practice?
, Standards of Conduct Committee
Inquiry into Individual Member Accountability: Evidence session 4
Brilliant, thank you very much. I'll start off, then, with some questions around the triggering of a petition, if I may. What do you think are the best circumstances to actually trigger a recall petition? We know, in Westminster, they have three essential…
