Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:15 pm on 10 May 2022.
Thank you to Llyr Gruffydd for those questions. In terms of the method of election and voting, I think today is an important day in terms of the future of the Senedd and the way in which we'll elect future Members of the Senedd, given the agreement that our two parties have come to and the work that will now face this Senedd in terms of scrutiny of a Bill in due course, when that will come forward.
But I know that Llyr Gruffydd's main point was in relation to the impact of first-past-the-post on local government and what will Welsh Government do to make change happen in respect of a move to STV in local authorities, because, as colleagues know, the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 did provide those provisions to allow those principal councils to choose their voting system between first-past-the-post and the STV system. Those provisions are now in effect, but I think this is the point here, that Welsh Government's position is very much that it is for local authorities to choose to make that change. So, Welsh Government won't be making the change happen, but I do think there is a role to ensure that those councillors who will now be potentially grappling with this question have the information that they need to make informed decisions on that, and I did have an interesting discussion with the Electoral Reform Society on exactly that point. So, I think that Welsh Government, if it has a role beyond setting the legislation or bringing forward the legislation that the Senedd has passed, it is more in the space of providing information so that councillors can make the right choice for their local area. I know that is not the response that Llyr Gruffydd would want to hear, but I'd give a straight answer to that one.
And then, in terms of town and community councillors, yes, this is an area where it continues to be disappointing that we don't have full slates of candidates coming forward in all areas, and this is all part of the work that is linked to demonstrating the importance of being a councillor, both in terms of principal councils but also town and community councils, and the incredible impact that, actually, you can have when you have a really, really good town and community council in your area. So, we do need to do more work to understand what puts people off from putting themselves forward. We understand that people are concerned about their other commitments, the time commitment involved in being a town and community councillor. So, there's a lot, I think, that we need to continue to explore there and I'll do so with One Voice Wales as we continue to try and improve the health of our town and community councils right across Wales, looking to those best ones, really, for inspiration as to how we can bring all town and community councils up to that level of ambition that some of them absolutely definitely show.
And then, in terms of the point about candidates' addresses, I think that there are probably further conversations to be had in terms of whether or not we provide that option at all, because that point that Llyr Gruffydd made is an important one in terms of some candidates being criticised for not living locally. It's easier for us as Members of the Senedd, because we can say that we have an address within the Gower constituency, or whatever the constituency, but I don't think that candidates had the option to give the answer that they have an address within the ward. I know that they were able to indicate they were within the county council area. So, there's something, I think, that we can look at there potentially to make improvements in the future.
And then, again, lots to learn on the pilots. I think that, as I say, things seem to have gone smoothly, which is good, and we look forward very much to that Electoral Commission research that will be published and there will be, I'm sure, opportunities for us to discuss that as a Senedd.
And then, in terms of electronic voting, absolutely, this is something that we're taking particular interest in. I think all Governments across the world are looking to see how we can move to electronic voting. I had the same conversations as Llyr Gruffydd did, I'm sure, in terms of being able to undertake so many other parts of our lives in a virtual way, but then voting itself, even though we try and make it as easy as possible with the pilots, with postal voting and so on, is still very much a traditional activity. So there's definitely a lot to do in terms of modernising and modernisation in that space.