Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on having a more proportional system for Local Government elections in Wales?
The Wales Act 2017 received Royal Assent on 31 January 2017. It transfers functions in relation to elections, their timing and registration of electors to the National Assembly for Wales. When these powers are commenced the Assembly will be able to legislate on the method of voting, the electoral system, the franchise and rules for registration as regards both local government and National Assembly elections.
Also on 31 January 2017 I launched the White Paper Reforming Local Government: Resilient and Renewed. It seeks initial views on some aspects of reforming elections and voting. These proposals will form part of the wider package of electoral reform which will be subject to a detailed consultation in the summer. Following the consultation my intention is to seek to make legislation to give effect to some of the changes for the local government elections in 2022. Some of the reforms may be subject to trial before introduction.
The White Paper seeks views on the proposition that local councils in Wales should be able to decide on their own voting arrangements. It also seeks views on proposals to allow individual local councils to decide to move from the current electoral system of first past the post to a system of proportional representation. For the reasons set out in the White Paper, should a council adopt proportional representation then I believe the most appropriate system would be the single transferable vote.