Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament
Y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio | Reform Bill Committee
Bil Senedd Cymru (Aelodau ac Etholiadau): barn plant a phobl Ifanc | Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill: children and young people's views
Power Up is a young
people’s wellbeing and social action project, by the charity
Platfform, for young people aged 10 to 25 who live in Cardiff and
the Vale of Glamorgan. It has been co-designed by young people and
aims to provide frontline wellbeing support as well as support
young people to enact social change in their communities and
Wales.
We know from engaging with 490 children and young people on their
opinions and experiences of mental health and wellbeing support
that they are passionate about various changes that could be made
to the world in order to make it a better place. One issue that
young people frequently mentioned was the Government, hence why we
asked young people what their opinions were on this members and
election bill and compiled a response.
Young people had mixed opinions on whether they thought that new
voting system was a good idea or not.
Even though some young people recognised that many people tend to
vote for the party rather than for a particular person, others
emphasised the importance and right to be able to choose
specifically who represents your community. One young person stated
that it is “nice to have a face and know who you're actually
voting for”.
Young people thought that people would understand the new way to
vote but perhaps not the reasoning behind why it has been changed
in the first place.
Whilst people may end up with a party that they wanted, if the
responsibility of choosing who gets the seat is down to the party,
people may not be represented by a person that they wanted. Some
young people remarked on whether it is fair to take this choice
away from people.
Overall, young people thought that the Senedd could revisit the new
voting system and whether it needed to be changed.
Young people thought that
increasing the number of members was a good idea.
Having more members could lead to decisions and outcomes being made
quicker. One young person commented on the fact that other
parliaments in the UK have more members than 60 so the Senedd
should too. Increasing the number of members would increase the
representation across Wales as well as hopefully improve the
representation of the members in the Senedd to match more closely
with the population makeup of Wales (e.g., more Senedd members from
minoritised and discriminated against groups). Additionally, an
increase in members could lead to a rise in opportunities in the
form of jobs or work experience.
Young people did recognise that there are some possible negatives
with increasing the number of members. More people means that it
could take longer for the Senedd to make decisions, which may lead
to delays in the work of the Senedd. The main concern however was
around the cost associated with this decision. Young people were
worried about how the extra members would be funded and if this
would have impact on the budget and lead to money being taken away
from other areas it could be invested in (like the NHS). They did
not want to have extra members at the detriment of losing
investment into necessary sectors of life.
Young people thought that having more members may make a positive
difference to way that they do their work, as the members would not
be as overstretched and therefore have more time to focus on their
particular interests and responsibilities. However, they did note
that this has not be done before so they were unsure what the real
effect would be.
Moreover, young people were unsure as to whether it would make a
difference to who would stand for election. One young person
thought that it might encourage more people to stand for election,
given the fact that they could have a higher chance of being
elected due to there being more members. But again, it has not
happened yet so we cannot be sure of the effect.
On the whole, young people thought that increasing the number of
Senedd members was something that should be implemented.
Young people had mixed views
around members serving for four years instead of five. Some thought
it was a good idea because it is a long enough period of time to
enact change but short enough that people would not become
complacent and reluctant to do anything. Shortening the term length
could also lead to the Senedd becoming more diverse and
representative, as people are elected in and out more regularly and
potentially new and fresh ideas and perspectives to enter into the
Senedd more frequently.
Some of our young people thought it was a bad idea because it could
lead to people making short-term knee jerk decisions that result in
no actual benefit to the population. Additionally, one young person
thought that the elections were “frequent enough
anyway”.
Young people were unsure whether changing the term length from five
to four years would lead to more people standing for election or
not. The shorter term length could both deter people (not long
enough to make a difference) or encourage people to stand (more
feasible commitment).
All young people agreed that members and candidates standing for
election should have to live in Wales. They believed that only when
you live somewhere, do you gain a real understanding of the issues
concerning both Wales and the area they want to represent. If you
are going to be making decisions about people’s lives, then
you should also be subject to and affected by the decisions you put
in place.
Young people also brought up the point that it should be a
requirement not only to reside in Wales, but also in the area that
you are planning to stand for in election of. This would give the
individual in question a better understanding of the needs and
issues of that area as well as help the community feel more
connected to the person representing them (if they too live
there).
Young people thought that ensuring candidates live in Wales would
lead to the Senedd becoming more representative, especially if it
is put in place that candidates also have to live in the area of
Wales they wish to represent. Regarding diversity, young people
were unsure whether it would lead to significant changes in
diversity of the members elected.
Again, young people were unsure whether requiring candidates to
live in Wales would lead to more people standing for election or
not. Young people discussed how they would hope that people
standing for election into a Welsh Government were in fact
Welsh.
Whilst the suggestions made by this bill may
increase diversity and representation (e.g., shortening the term
length and ensuring members live in Wales), more direct and focused
efforts are needed in order to make a noticeable change.
Regarding diversity and representation in the Senedd, young people
had a few ideas on how to improve this.
For example, creating more development opportunities for people
from underrepresented groups to get into politics. One young person
highlighted programmes like ‘Equal Power Equal Voice’
who they thought were a great example of this.
Additionally, political parties could focus more on working with
and recruiting people from different backgrounds to work with them
and regularly review whether their workforce and represents views
from a range of voices.
Also, young people thought that the Senedd could engage in more
interaction with people from diverse backgrounds and go to places
where these people are. One suggestion was collaborating with
organisations who have established good relationships with these
communities and hosting events to let people get to know who is
representing them and learn what goes on in the Senedd.
Moreover, educational campaigns would be useful in informing the
general public about the day-to-day business of the Senedd and
their upcoming plans and policies and in a more accessible way via
billboards, social media. This would perhaps inspire people to get
more involved themselves.
But young people wanted to highlight any attempts in increasing
diversity and representation needed to come from a place of change
and wanting to do better and not about meeting quotas and being
tokenistic.