On recommendations 11, 12 and 13, the Welsh Government is creating the stakeholder group and will do as the committee recommends, with the caveat that the work will be wider in scope than recommendation 12 suggests. We are committed to engaging as wide a range of stakeholders as possible in our work on raising awareness about the franchise changes contained in the Bill and in the forthcoming local government and elections Bill. We will publish the terms and reference and work plan for our stakeholder engagement group in the near future.

On recommendation 14, the Minister for Education will issue a written statement to outline the delivery of citizenship and political education across Wales from the summer of 2020. On recommendation 15, these are also matters for the Welsh Government, and will be considered as part of the budget-setting process for 2020-21. As the awareness-raising campaign will cover the extension of the franchise for both Assembly and local government elections, I'm afraid it simply isn't possible to single out the cost incurred for each election in a meaningful way. But we will consider whether there is any other information that we might be able to provide in order to give a fuller picture.

On recommendations 16 and 17, the local government Bill is not, in our view, a suitable vehicle for provisions relating to the accountability of the Electoral Commission. This is a matter for the Senedd and not for local government. The Senedd and Elections Bill is the right vehicle for these provisions, and I don't want to see any delay on this, particularly as the Assembly Commission and the Electoral Commission are in agreement that it should happen, and the Scottish Government intends to legislate, for example, in similar fashion. However, I do absolutely recognise the concerns expressed by committees, and I will say more about that later. Finally, on the CLA committee's eighteenth recommendation, we are indeed satisfying ourselves that the disqualifications set out in the Bill are appropriate, and we will table any amendments we consider necessary at Stage 2.

I turn now to the Finance Committee recommendations. We will work closely with the Llywydd to address recommendations 1 and 2 on signage and local authority costs. Recommendations 3 and 4 on electoral registration are matters for the Welsh Government. We have consulted on this and will include provisions in the local government Bill. But, as I said earlier, we do not intend to pursue further changes at the same time as those for the franchise and canvass reform, as that would create significant risks, in our judgment.

We do not accept recommendations 5 and 6. These are matters for local authorities. Neither, I'm afraid, do we accept recommendations 7 and 8. We do not consider it appropriate to address either the publication of Assembly elections expenditure or returning officer fees in primary legislation, but we do intend to address both those issues by other means. The costs requested in recommendation 11 will be included in the regulatory impact assessment for the local government Bill. We accept recommendation 12. We intend to include a wide membership on the democratic renewal steering group and sub-groups.

Finally, we also accept recommendation 13. As I mentioned earlier, it is my intention to table amendments in relation to the accountability of the Electoral Commission at Stage 2. This depends on a number of factors outside the Welsh Government's control, including whether any Minister of the Crown consent we may need to seek is given. I will provide more information on my proposals on this after the summer recess, but in light of the committee's concerns I have decided to delay moving the financial resolution for the Bill until I am in a position to provide that information. 

As I said when the Bill was introduced, it represents an important step on our devolution journey. It is important that we use our new powers in this area to ensure that our legislature can continue effectively to serve the people of Wales in a changing constitutional landscape. The Welsh Government fully supports the general principles of the Bill.