The Democratic Services Manager presented a report which outlined the key proposals of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill.

He advised that the Bill was published in November this year and presented a number of proposals,  as follows:

Local Government Electoral Arrangements

• The voting age for local government elections will be lowered from 18 to 16 and the right to stand and vote in local government elections will be extended to qualifying foreign citizens residents in Wales.

• Local authorities and community councils will be put on a permanent five year electoral cycle, powers will be given to the Welsh Government to establish an all Wales digital electoral register and pilots of new ways to hold local elections will be allowed (i.e all postal voting, new voting hours, electronic voting, electronic counting).

Disqualification criteria to stand as a councillor

• People who have been declared bankrupt, are registered sex offenders, have served a prison (suspended or not) sentence of 3 months or more will be disqualified.

• Council staff will be allowed to stand in elections to their employer local authority but will be required to resign if elected.

Governance Arrangements

• The Bill will introduce a general power of competence for local authorities and eligible community councils, giving the power to act in their respective community’s best interests, generate efficiencies and secure value for money.

• Local authorities will still need to appoint a Chief Executive but must publish arrangements for managing their performance. The Bill introduces job sharing for Cabinet level positions and places a requirement on councils to have provision for maternity leave for councillors.

• Standard Committees will be required to publish an Annual Report, while community councils will need to draft and publish a training plan for councillors and staff

Mergers

• There will be provision for regional working by more than one local authority through corporate joint committees. It also gives the Welsh Government the power to intervene or order one local authority to assist another one if it is believed a council is not meeting performance requirements (based on self-assessment and peer review).

• Any mergers will be wholly voluntary. Two or more local authorities can apply to Welsh Government with a merger application. The Bill sets out the formal public consultation process and regulations required to create a merged local authority. Councils can also request to be abolished.

Public engagement

• Local authorities will be required to publish a public participation strategy. There will also be a duty placed on local authorities to encourage local people to participate in local government.

• Local authorities will need to introduce public petition schemes, webcast all public meetings (subject to regulations) and make arrangements for remote attendance by councillors. These provisions will not apply to community councils.

• Community Councils will be required to allow members of the public to make representations during meetings and publish annual reports at the end of each financial year.

The Democratic Services Manager explained that Councils will also be allowed to choose their own voting systems in which elections can be contested, either the existing simple majority system or single transferable vote system

The Democratic Services Manager informed Members that for Councils to change their voting system, it would need to be the subject of a vote at  Council, with a minimum of two thirds of Members  voting in favour of a  change.

The Democratic Services Manager explained that there were also changes to the name of Audit Committee, with its new name being Governance and Audit Committee. A lay person would be the Chairperson and a third of the Committee would be lay members.  Details of the new functions of the Governance and Audit Committee were detailed at section 114 of the bill.

The Democratic Services Manager added that the Council will be required to webcast all public meetings, details surrounding this are currently unknown.

A Member asked when the Bill was to be implemented. The Democratic Services Manager confirmed that the Act was likely to be in place by the Summer of 2020.

A Member welcomed the proposals of the new Bill and stated that a benefit of one of them is the requirement to make remote attendance available to all Members. He stated that as many of the Members work, they may struggle to make it to the meeting, but with remote attendance being made available and a proper structure in place, they could potentially attend, improving overall attendance by working Members.

The Chairperson considered that remote attendance would be beneficial; however, good internet connectivity was essential to make it a success.  

A Member stated that he was in favour of the new Bill but would like to see more clarity on the voting systems.

The Chairperson referred to the requirement for a Standards Committee Annual Report and believed that it may be a short report as the Standards Committee did not have a significant caseload. 

RESOLVED: That Members noted the contents of the report.