Diolch, Llywydd. Elections are essential to our democracy and anything that impacts them should indeed be taken seriously, and so I'm very happy to have been able to hear the views of colleagues in the Chamber today. These regulations do two very important things: they postpone any by-elections that would have been held between March this year and January next year, and they protect those who organise our elections from criminal prosecution as a result of the necessary actions that they have needed to take to protect both the public and their staff. This means that any by-elections that arise between 16 March 2020 and 31 January 2021 due to a casual vacancy will be held between 1 February 2021 and 16 April 2021. The exact date of the election will be determined by the appropriate returning officer. By disapplying sections 39 and 63 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, we've also ensured that the actions or omissions of returning officers in relation to a poll that was due to be held but was postponed cannot result in criminal prosecution.

These regulations were made using the negative procedure, as that is what the Coronavirus Act 2020 requires. Section 67 provides the power to the Welsh Ministers to make the regulations and section 67(7) specifies the procedure that applies. It was also necessary to disapply the 21-day convention, as the Act only gave returning officers indemnity for the period of 15 March to 24 April. By disapplying the 21-day convention, it allows us to bring the regulations into force by 5 May, avoiding any unnecessary gap where returning officers could be liable for acting in the public interest.

At the time of producing these regulations, there was a great deal of concern from the electoral community about the safety of holding elections. On 18 March, both my UK counterpart and I wrote to the electoral community to give our full support to returning officers who needed to suspend elections before the Coronavirus Act 2020 came into force.

I do not take the postponement of elections lightly; these regulations have been necessary due to the unprecedented health emergency we're currently living through. It would be impossible to hold fair and open by-elections while there are significant health risks to the population. We would risk disenfranchising those in at-risk groups and be risking the health of voters, the candidates, the campaigners and the electoral staff. These regulations allow returning officers to choose the most appropriate date to hold a postponed election between 1 February 2021 and 16 April 2021. This period allows for a sufficient time to have passed for us to have a better understanding of the present public health emergency, and plan accordingly with the electoral community and within the existing legislative framework.

This is in advance of 6 May 2021, when the current police and crime commissioner and Senedd elections are due to take place. The Senedd and PCC elections being held on the same day introduces considerable complexity into arrangements, as they will be involved with two different franchises and voting systems. It would not be desirable to add postponed local by-elections to those complex arrangements, and adding the dates of February to 16 April when a by-election must be held is therefore necessary.

The UK Government is requiring postponed by-elections to be held on this date, but because of the complexities involved that I have just set out, this was not appropriate for Wales, and so our by-elections will be held earlier. Allowing returning officers to set the date allows them to use their expertise to take into account local factors to arrange the most appropriate date, and due to the urgency with which these regulations are needed, some of the technical detail of how this postponement will be managed has been left to a later set of regulations.

I wrote to the electoral community on 5 May setting out the reasoning behind the current regulations and what would be covered in the second set. These will include a number of issues, such as previously cast postal ballots, expenses and compensation for the suspended polls.

I continue to work very closely with the electoral community and other UK administrations on managing these suspended polls and ensuring elections can be held safely and fairly. Diolch, Llywydd.