Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. The explanatory memorandum of the Bill notes the rationale of the Assembly Commission in deliberately choosing not to include the enfranchisement of foreign nationals in the Bill on introduction. The Assembly Commission determined that there was no clear cross-party consensus on this issue due to the complexity of the arguments around it. In the absence of such consensus, the Commission wasn't of the view that it was appropriate to make changes to the law on the current franchise to include foreign nationals in this particular Bill. However, I do want to offer a few contextual comments for Members to consider before they vote this afternoon.

First, it's important to remind ourselves of the report of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, which noted in its Stage 1 report that extending voting rights to foreign nationals would represent a significant change to the electoral franchise. The committee believed that provisions of this nature should be included in a Bill on introduction, rather than amend the Senedd and elections Bill later in the legislative process. These points were at the heart of David Melding's comments. And as David Melding reminded me specifically, as the Llywydd in being the Member in charge of this Bill, a two-thirds majority of Members will be required for this Bill to pass at Stage 4. Therefore, maintaining cross-party consensus is important to the success of this legislation in its entirety, and it does concern me that one aspect could put at risk that majority necessary for Stage 4.

On the other hand, it's also important, as the Counsel General stated, Members will recall that 66 per cent of respondents to the Assembly Commission's consultation did support the statement that all Welsh residents should be able to vote in Assembly elections irrespective of nationality. Of course, we are aware that that consultation also noted the administrative advantages of the Assembly franchise being joined up with the local government franchise. We are aware of the changes proposed by the Government in due course in that particular area.

Amendments 61 to 63 in the name of David Melding would also disqualify qualifying foreign citizens from standing for election to the Assembly, removing provisions that were inserted into the Bill at Stage 2. Again, this is not an issue that the Assembly Commission has a position on. The Commission did not consult on this issue at all and, therefore, this was not in the original Bill. Having said that, some Members may believe that allowing qualifying foreign citizens to stand for election would be consistent with the policy proposals on disqualification that are included in the Bill, namely to allow as many people as possible to stand for election to the Assembly.

It won't be me, as the Member in charge of the Bill, who takes ownership of this policy, neither, as Suzy Davies noted very clearly, is it the policy of the Assembly Commission. But it's the Assembly as a whole that will take ownership of this Bill at the end of voting today, and it's important that we bear that in mind as we move to Stage 4.