The second building block is provided for by amendment 70, which substitutes a new Schedule 4 to the Bill and amends provisions in Part 5A of, and Schedule 12 to the Local Government Act 1972 and in the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960. Part 1 of Schedule 4 is based on the general principles that certain documents relating to meetings must be published electronically and in a timely way, so that the public can follow the decision-making process. Electronic publication will complement and augment an individual's right to attend a meeting, whether in person or through remote means.

Paragraph 17 of Schedule 4 amends section 232 of the 1972 Act so that any public notice required to be published by a local authority in Wales must be published electronically, unless specific provision is made elsewhere in legislation. Subparagraph 4 provides the Welsh Ministers with a regulation-making power to make provision about the manner of giving the public notices that are required to be given by a local authority. Part 2 of Schedule 4 provides for amendments consequential to the new section inserted by amendment 15.

The third building block is the regulation-making powers provided for in amendments 17 and 18. Amendment 17 supports the main changes made by Schedule 4. The new power will allow Welsh Ministers to make regulations about the conduct of local authority meetings, meeting documents and about the publication of information. The power will provide the flexibility for the new arrangements to be reviewed and updated on a timely basis. This power is necessary to ensure these arrangements remain workable as technology and other matters evolve.

Amendment 18 is also a regulation-making power that will allow Ministers to make regulations about community meetings. The current provisions are also set out in the 1972 Act. The flexibility of the regulation-making power will also allow us to undertake a much-needed review and modernisation of the arrangements for such meetings. The current provisions are very outdated and there is no reason for them to be prescribed in primary legislation in the sort of detail that is much better provided for in regulations. For example, the only option for community meetings at the moment is physical attendance by an elector. 

The regulation-making powers in amendments 17 and 18 can only be effective and achieve the purpose of providing local government with an effective, transparent and flexible governance system on the same basis as other public services if they enable Welsh Ministers to amend relevant primary legislation. All these powers are therefore subject to the affirmative procedure through amendments 50, 51 and 52, whilst amendment 53 provides for the necessary coming-into-force provisions.

Amendments 4, 5 and 16 are technical amendments consequential on other amendments in the group. Amendments 4 and 5 alter the overview section for Part 3 to reflect the section inserted by amendments 17 and 18, whilst amendment 16 alters section 50 of the Bill to reflect that Schedule 4 comprises two parts.

The final building block relates to the electronic broadcasting of meetings and is provided for in amendments 6 to 10, 12 to 14 and 77. The electronic broadcast of meetings will enable individuals who cannot attend meetings to see and hear the proceedings that effect their lives and witness the decisions made and position taken by their representatives. At its heart, these provisions are about the transparency of local democracy. These amendments all refine section 47 of the Bill and have been informed by the concerns raised during Stage 1 regarding the wide scope of the broadcasting provisions. Accordingly, the amendments remove the requirement for all meetings of a principal council to be broadcast live. Instead, the proposed amendments will require principal councils to make and publish arrangements to secure that only full council meetings of principal councils must be broadcast. The default position is that full council meetings must be broadcast live, subject to any exceptions in regulations. This will enable every member of the community to see and hear the contributions made by their local councillors in full council meetings. If arrangements are revised or replaced, principal councils must publish the new arrangements.

The amendments will enable the Welsh Ministers to make regulations to add a range of meetings to the list and, importantly, amendment 77 will enable the Welsh Ministers to make further provision in connection with the broadcast of proceedings in regulations. For example, regulations will be able to specify which meetings must be broadcast live and which may be recorded live and broadcast at a later date. They will also be able to specify the period for which the electronic broadcasts must be retained.

As drafted for introduction, these provisions enabled the Welsh Minister to specify in regulations that the proceedings at meetings of fire and rescue authorities and national park authorities, including their committees or sub-committees, were to be broadcast. This power is retained and expanded to also cover proceedings at meetings of joint committees of one or more principal councils, one or more FRAs or NPAs and also joint boards.

And finally, amendment 72 is a minor technical amendment removing a reference to a provision that is redundant as a result of the changes to Schedule 4, as inserted by amendment 70. Diolch.