Individual Member Accountability

The Standards of Conduct Committee has agreed to undertake an inquiry considering Individual Senedd Member’s (Member) Accountability.

Once elected as a Member of the Senedd, a Member is accountable to their constituents and ultimately, a Member who stands for re-election is held to account by the public at each election. Members can also be disqualified and removed during a Senedd term if convicted of a criminal offence and receive a custodial sentence of 12 months or more. In such an instance there would either be a by-election if a constituency Member or a vacancy is filled by the next eligible person on the party list if a regional Member – if no name remains on the list then the regional seat would remain vacant until the next election.

During the term of a Senedd, Members are expected to meet the standards of behaviour and rules set out in the Senedd’s Code of Conduct which applies at all times. This code sets out 8 principles – based on the principles of public life, also known as the ‘Nolan’ principles - which set out clearly expectations on Members. The Code also has 24 specific rules which are aimed at adding clarity to the behaviour we can all expect from our elected representatives. Complaints about individual Members can be made about potential breaches of these standards. An independent Commissioner for Standards investigates the complaints and reports their findings to the Standards of Conduct Committee. The Committee then considers these reports and if a breach is found, it reports to the Senedd. The Committee has the option of recommending a sanction should be applied to a Member.

The sanctions currently available to the Senedd in cases of misconduct are:

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>>>the Member should be excluded from Senedd proceedings  either generally or specifically - for example, proceedings at particular meetings of the Senedd or its committees - for a time to be specified in the motion for exclusion, and in accordance with Standing Orders;

>>>that certain rights and privileges of membership of the Senedd should be withdrawn from the Member concerned; or

>>>where deemed appropriate, any combination of the above sanctions may be applied.

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The rights and privileges of membership of the Senedd that the Committee may recommend should be withdrawn will be as specified in the Committee’s report to the Senedd, and may include:

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>>>withdrawal of a right of access as a member of the Senedd estate;

>>>exclusion from other activities which a Member might normally have a right to attend; and/or

>>>removal of representational, ceremonial and related privileges which a Member might normally enjoy. 

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There is no power to remove an individual from the Senedd entirely.

The Reform Bill Committee considered issues relating to Member accountability as part of their scrutiny of Senedd Cymru (Members and Election) Bill and recommended that the Standards of Conduct Committee, working with other key parties, consult on potential options in this area before the end of the Sixth Senedd. Recall was also the subject of amendments tabled at stage two and three of the Bill.

The Committee intends to consider whether this accountability of individual members should be increased -the Committee will consider developing options in the following areas:

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>>>Recall of Members (recommending that some form of public poll in the relevant areas which gives an option to remove a Member from the Senedd) including consideration of:

***The grounds which would trigger a recall process;

***What the recall process would look like; and

***The consequences for the Senedd electoral system

>>>Reasons for which Members may be disqualified during a Senedd term (this consideration is solely in relation to matters relating to individual Member accountability rather than wider reasons for disqualification;

>>>Increasing the available sanctions for the Standards of Conduct Committee to apply.

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Over the summer term 2024, the Committee will take evidence from expert witnesses on the key areas identified in these terms of reference to help scope and shape its public consultation.