Gareth Bennett: I take on board Nick Ramsay’s reservations that he expressed. However, UKIP does support the Plaid Cymru amendment allowing local authorities to make representations to the Welsh Government regarding tax bands and tax rates. We believe that, in general, powers should be devolved to the lowest possible level of Government. This is backing the principle of localism, and we stated this...
Gareth Bennett: ...we regret that, too. Point 3 is where we have some points of departure from the Plaid proposals. Like them, we support electoral reform. To be more precise, we, too, want some form of proportional representation for local elections and, in our manifesto, we supported the introduction of the single transferable vote in Wales. We certainly do want to depart from first past the post, which...
Gareth Bennett: ...we first have had such a referendum. Now, in terms of the other issues, votes at 16: we also have a national policy on that, and we do oppose extending the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds. Equal representation of genders: we believe that should be up to the political parties themselves to decide. The problem with the consultation is how to get widespread involvement, and how to ensure...
Gareth Bennett: ...service that we have now. The second Plaid Cymru amendment relates to voting in local elections. We support Plaid’s desire for councils to move away from first-past-the-post to proportional representation in order to strengthen accountability. Mike Hedges raised the apparently vexing issue of lower turnout in police and crime commissioner and European elections. However, I believe that...
Gareth Bennett: ...situation for the Welsh Government to make it easier for them to sell off the land, and is there an issue of accountability? We have touched on the accountability issue, and the issue of councillor representation on the housing associations’ boards. Now, it does seem potentially problematic if you are going to reduce the ability of the councillors to influence the housing associations on...
Gareth Bennett: ...—is that firmly settled in your mind? What if, for instance, there is a strong lobby from various quarters for, let's say, 12 rather than 10? Would you still fairly consider those kinds of representations? There is also the issue of voluntary mergers. You still leave some leeway for mergers to take place on a voluntary basis. But, of course, the problem with that, as we heard earlier, is...
