A DRAFT version of legislation to give people in Wales the power to remove Senedd Members who seriously break conduct rules has published.

The draft Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Bill was published yesterday (Monday, October 6). Publishing the draft Bill will allow Senedd Members and others more time to see its scope and direction before formal introduction later this year.

Work continues on the preparation of the Bill and there may be changes before it is introduced to the Senedd.

The legislation would strengthen democratic standards by introducing a recall mechanism for the Senedd, with two clear triggers that would lead to a Member becoming subject to a recall poll:

  • Where a Member is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, including suspended sentences; and
  • Where the Senedd agrees a recommendation from the Standards of Conduct Committee that a Member should be subject to a recall poll as a result of serious misconduct.

The draft Bill includes a statutory requirement for every Senedd to establish a Standards of Conduct Committee, which could – for the first time – include independent lay members to bring external, independent expertise to the Senedd’s standards process.

The Commissioner for Standards would also have additional powers to investigate concerns about Members’ conduct.

It also amends Welsh Ministers’ powers to set rules about how Senedd elections are run. In order to address deliberate deception, this will include a duty on Welsh Ministers to prohibit false statements in future conduct orders governing Senedd elections.

Counsel General and Minister for Delivery Julie James said:

"People in Wales deserve representatives who uphold the highest standards of conduct.

"This draft legislation sets out to build stronger foundations for Welsh democracy: To ensure that when Members seriously breach those standards, voters have the power to hold them directly accountable.

"Based on the Standards Committee's recommendations, this is about strengthening democratic integrity and ensuring that serious misconduct has real consequences - because trust in our democracy depends on Members being answerable to the people they serve."

The Bill is expected to be introduced to the Senedd later this autumn. If passed, it will establish the framework for recall and clarify the powers to introduce an offence of deliberate deception by candidates with full implementation, including detailed guidelines and secondary legislation, to be completed in the next Senedd term.