4. What assessment has the Minister made of the role that the Welsh Government can play in improving public engagement in local politics? OQ56053

Thank you. The Welsh Government is already playing a significant role in improving public engagement in politics. Through legislation, we have extended the voting franchise and made provisions to reform public participation in local democracy. And in support of this, our forthcoming communications campaign will encourage citizens to engage with politics through participation.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. And, yes, you have put through a number of significant changes to the local elections system, some of which you've actually mentioned today. But there has been an opportunity missed, though, that would have increased engagement from the wider electorate, which is a more proportional electoral system for local councils. Now, I know that your legislation allows for local authorities to adopt the single transferrable vote model, but it doesn't compel them to, and it doesn't even compel them to ask their electorate if they would like that system in place. I don't think any council in Wales is going to adopt a more proportional system voluntarily, because, basically, those in power are always very reluctant to change the voting system that got them there, for fear it will deliver different results next time. So, really, the inclusion of the option to hold an STV election is pretty meaningless, isn't it? Without making it mandatory, it looks like you're cynically using the democratic system to protect your friends in the council chamber, who no doubt deliver leaflets and knock on doors for you in return. So, Minister, will you consider options to force local councils to use a more proportional electoral model, or will voters be stuck in perpetuity with the current system?

Well, Michelle Brown, I completely refute the premise that you base your question on. I don't think using the word 'compel' in a conversation about public participation does you or anybody else any favours. So, I do not agree with compelling local authorities to do things—they are themselves democratically elected institutions. What our Act does is empower local authorities to make their own decisions, where they wish to do so. And of course, the Bill also increases a large number of public participation methodologies, which will allow them to consult widely and involve and include their local residents.

We're also, of course, very involved in our increasing diversity in democracy schemes. And the Bill also sets out a number of things that we think will enable more people to come forward to stand at election for local councillors, including remote access to learning, to meetings, remote access to officials, and of course strengthened guidance on assistance for local councillors in carrying out their case load and local roles.

I think all of us in our time as elected Members will have been bowled over by community campaigns instigated by individuals coming together to fight either for or against something that matters profoundly to them. Loads in South Wales West, but just one—'Save Our Fields in Brackla is campaigning currently to retain the only extensive green space in this settlement, which is home to around a quarter of Bridgend's population. It's a perfect example. Now, that's engagement in local politics as well, and exercised frequently in a way that exposes problems with competing Government policy aims. And not all campaigners want to stand for election themselves, of course, but what might Welsh Government do in order to ensure that consultations are meaningful and properly promoted, and that people like Save Our Fields in Brackla feel that their voice really matters, that it's taken seriously?

Yes, and I completely agree with Suzy Davies that many people first have their first taste of politics—small 'p'—because they campaign against the closure of a local playing field or the opening of something they don't like locally, and they get a sense for how their voice can be heard coming together as a community. So, I think we share a common like, if you like, of that kind of community action, which I am very keen on facilitating, if that's the right word.

So, each local authority has to set out a public participation strategy to set out clearly how they promote awareness of the work of the council and how its decisions impact on people's lives, and they also explain how individuals can access decisions and make representations to the council, and, importantly, how they can make those views known in good time so that they impact the decision that they're concerned about. As I said in answer to a previous question, that isn't the point in time that a sign goes up on the local lamp post saying that you've got only a few days to make representations; it is about awareness, more broadly, of how you can get your voice heard. And so each local authority will be under a duty to promote that public participation scheme as widely as possible and to give access, both in person—so you can attend in person, once we're over the COVID regulations of course—but also electronic access, phone access and so on, in order to allow people to get their voice heard, and we expect them to have those strategies in place and report annually on them for the scrutiny of both their own councils and of the Senedd. 

The one area where the public get engaged is planning applications. The big problem is that unpopular planning applications, such as houses of multiple occupation over the limits set by supplementary planning guidance are refused by the council but allowed by planning inspectors. Does the Minister agree that ending planning inspectors overruling councils' planning conditions and making failed applicants go to judicial review instead is the best way of improving public engagement and getting the confidence of the public?

Well, Mike Hedges will know that he and I have had a couple of sparring matches on this point over a large number of years. So, he knows I don't agree with him on that, which I'm sorry to say. Applicants can appeal against refusal of permission, where an independent inspector then checks the decision of the local planning authority against local and national planning policies and any other material consideration raised. I absolutely recognise the point about local plans, local strategic areas, HMO strategy areas and so on—there are a number of them—strategic design orders and so on.

We have got a good relationship with all of our local authorities in Wales, and where I've been asked to do so—and I'm very happy to invite such a request from any other local authority—the planning inspectors have been able to work with officers from those authorities to understand what the evidential requirements are in order to defend an appeal, in order to make the decision in the first place, and, indeed, in order to strengthen their particular design orders or HMO restraint orders, or whatever it is they're doing, so that they don't get overturned on appeal. And, in fact, actually, we've produced statistics, because there is a perception that more get turned over on appeal than not, and we've produced statistics that show that that's not so.