Individual Member Accountability

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

 

¬¬¬ Background

 

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that certain rights and privileges of membership of the Senedd should be withdrawn from the Member concerned; or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The rights and privileges of membership of the Senedd that the Committee may recommend should be withdrawn will be as specified in the Committee’s report to the Senedd, and may include: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.

 

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¬¬¬ Recall

 

Inquiry4

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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The Committee took evidence from expert witnesses on the key areas identified in the public consultation, and published its report on 23 January 2025. The Government response was published on 10 March 2025.

 

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¬¬¬ Deliberate Deception

 

Inquiry4
During Stages 2 and 3 of both the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill and the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill, amendments were brought forward to introduce the disqualification of an individual from being a Member of the Senedd or a candidate if they wilfully and with intent make or publish a statement that is false or deceptive.

During Stage 3 deliberations, the then Counsel General committed the Welsh Government to bring forward legislation before 2026 on the disqualification of Members and candidates found guilty of deliberate deception through an independent judicial process. The Counsel General wrote to the Committee, inviting it to consider this issue.

Subsequently, the Committee agreed to broaden the scope of its initial inquiry to include:

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>>>gathering evidence on the merits of introducing further mechanisms for the disqualification of Members and candidates found to have deliberately deceived the electorate including through an independent judicial process.

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On 8 July, in accordance with Standing Order 17.49, the Committee agreed to invite Members who were proponents of the amendment to the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill, to contribute to its work relating to the offence of deception. A Memorandum of Understanding was agreed between Committee members and observer Members, setting out how this would work in practice.

 

The Committee took evidence from expert witnesses on the key areas identified in the public consultation, and published its report on 19 February 2025. The Government response was published on 26 March 2025.

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¬¬¬ Donations

 

Inquiry2

 

It is important for the Senedd to be as transparent and open as possible, especially in relation to receiving funds and donations as Members of the Senedd. Such donations are important in funding activities such as leadership campaigns, which rightly cannot use Senedd resources. However the Committee is keen to make sure that this is done in a way which maintains the confidence of the electorate. The Committee will consider as part of this inquiry:

 

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>>>the level of reporting and disclosure of donations which individual Members are required to undertake;

>>>whether there should be any restrictions (beyond those of the Electoral Commission) on who can donate;

>>>whether there should be a cap on donations from any one entity or individual; and

>>>whether there should be variation in the rules depending on the source of donation.

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