A few comments on dissolution, first of all, which is intended to give fairness to all candidates to ensure that public resources can't be abused. It's a mechanism too to ensure fairness and balance between the Government of the day and the opposition parties through the purdah convention, and the aim, of course, is to ensure the integrity of the election. It has to be there. The risk of losing it because of the pandemic was a cause for concern, I have to say. I do understand that the Business Committee has agreed in principle that there will be a pre-dissolution period that will be similar to a conventional dissolution but which will also provide flexibility to recall the Senedd for reasons related to the pandemic. That goes some of the way in allaying fears. I understand that  the Government has proposed how activity could be reduced—stopping written questions, for example, and thereby not favouring current Members—but we haven't seen the guidance on the implications of that pre-dissolution period on Government activity. I understand that such guidance was published as early as December 2015 for the 2016 election under normal arrangements. We need that clarity on the guidance that will relate to the Senedd and the Government in order to deal with this Bill appropriately.

I'm going to make a few comments on the need to ensure that public health and democratic health are part of the equation in the decisions facing us. As I said last week, the challenge we face is looking at that big picture and balancing the various risks. The process of allowing an individual to cast a vote safely and the process of counting those votes safely are crucially important, but just as important is the need to allow meaningful debate with the people of Wales as they elect a government for the next five years. The risk to the integrity of the election of holding that election without having had that meaningful engagement and debate for me is still missing in looking at the explanatory memorandum.

We are hardly any the wiser in terms of distributing leaflets and other campaign materials. Is it only through the Royal Mail that one can distribute leaflets at present? Will it be possible to pay other individuals or agencies to do that? We need to look at how distributing leaflets for profit is acceptable but voluntary distribution is not allowed. There is some information for political parties on campaign methods in the Government's alert level 4 FAQs section. We encourage political parties, candidates and campaigners to consider the full range of campaigning methods, including social media, to provide information to voters. I'm afraid that this is entirely inadequate and misses the fundamental point that I and others have raised, which is that not everyone uses social media and not every candidate will be wealthy enough to pay to distribute that information. So, when will there be comprehensive guidance available to political parties showing clearly what they can do under each of the alert levels in the Welsh Government's COVID plan?

Finally, Llywydd, I turn to the need for clarity on the timetable for decision making and the need for regular updates on the status of the election. In terms of the timetable for decisions, should we need to postpone the election, then I do think that the suggestion of seven days before polling day is very tight indeed. It's not clear that the Government's powers could be used as late as 3 May, the week of the election itself. Many people would have already cast their vote through the post, so what would happen to their vote? As it's not clear what the conditions or the public health threshold used in deciding whether it is safe to hold an election or not is and that the Bill as it's currently drafted provides for postponement very late in the day, we will consider an amendment at Stage 2, to make it a requirement for Welsh Ministers to provide regular updates to us on the status of the preparations for the elections and the ability to hold that election safely to run along with the three-weekly reviews of the COVID regulations. I think that's a minimum requirement. I wonder what the scientific advice on allowing the election to proceed would be if it were to be held tomorrow, for example. Many questions to be asked and the timetable is very tight, and we do need clarity as a matter of urgency from the Government on many of these issues.