Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government, Mark Isherwood AM, has challenged the Minister for Housing and Local Government over the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Bill, including its proposals ‘to enable prisoners and young people in custody from Wales who are serving a custodial sentence of less than four years to vote in local government elections’, and votes at 16.
Responding to the Minister’s Statement on the Bill in the Welsh Parliament yesterday, Mr Isherwood also questioned the Minister over the Bill’s proposals to extend the franchise to foreign citizens legally resident in Wales and to require principal Councils to prepare a ‘public participation strategy’, and asked how it will tackle the current “disappointing” financial management and governance at “too many Town and Community Councils”.
He said: “In the YouGov poll in 2017 asking people in Wales whether prisoners should be allowed to vote, only 9 per cent stated that they should. So, there does appear to be a bit of a disconnect between the will of the people and Welsh Government here.
“I've been here long enough to remember how the debate on votes at 16 started, and it started because 80 per cent of young people in Wales weren't voting for anybody and it has developed since. You refer to the (2014) Scottish Referendum figures in Scotland, and you say that 89 per cent of those eligible 16 and 17-year-olds in Scotland registered, against 97 per cent for the general population, and I believe 75 per cent are estimated to have voted, against 85 per cent for the general population. But the real comparator, is it not, is the Scottish Parliament Election in 2016, when overall turnout was back down to 55.6 per cent for the constituency and 55.8 per cent for the regional vote - even lower in Wales at 45.4 per cent? So, what evidence have we got to indicate that a Parliamentary (or Local Government) election would see that referendum result being repeated in terms of engagement?
He added:
“You talk about reforms to improving electoral arrangements for local government, including extending the franchise to foreign citizens legally resident in Wales. However, the explanatory memorandum provides no examples of any other country or nation that gives non-citizens the vote in local elections and the impact that this has had. So, what discussions have you had with other national Governments about the impact of allowing non-citizens to vote in local elections? And what case studies has the Welsh Government used to assess the impact of allowing non-citizens to vote? I'm told that at its briefing earlier, the Welsh Government did not know of any research that had been carried out on the effect of the introduction of the right to vote for non-citizens, where the principle of representative democracy has always been based upon a citizen's right to vote, requiring the stake that citizenship brings.
“You state that principal Councils will be required to ‘prepare, consult on, publish and keep under review a public participation strategy’, but previously Welsh Government has proved often averse to implementing the Localism Act 2011's community rights agenda, which would help public participation, including the ‘Community Right to Challenge’ and the ‘Community Right to Bid’. Would this facilitate these deficits or not?
“In January, I questioned you regarding the Wales Audit Office report stating ‘The current standard of financial management and governance remains disappointing at too many Town and Community Councils'. So, how, if at all, will this Bill address that?
“You refer to the ‘Independent Review Panel on Community and Town Councils in Wales’ that has also called, amongst other things, for ‘all Community and Town Councils to be working towards meeting the criteria to be able to exercise the General Power of Competence’ and recommended that ‘Community and Town Councils, or a representative of them, should become a statutorily invited participant on all Public Services Boards’. Again, how will this Bill address that?”
Speaking outside the Chamber, Mr Isherwood added: “The Minister’s response, which failed to answer my questions, was a triumph of personal opinion over public opinion and ‘we know best’ over evidence and accountability. This Labour Welsh Government is continuing to deny communities in Wales the additional rights available to communities in England. Although the Bill requires a Council to make and publish arrangements for managing the performance of its Chief Executive, we must also ask whether this will result in a lack of scrutiny, especially if a Chief Executive acts beyond their powers and/or fails to make themselves properly accountable to both the elected Council Leadership and their Local Authority’s backbenchers”.
