Mark Drakeford has announced eight laws the Welsh Government wants to introduce in the coming year. These include expanding and diversifying the Senedd, dealing with dangerous coal tips and possible changes to council tax.
The First Minister said: “This forthcoming year will have an unrelenting focus on reform to make positive changes in the lives of the people of Wales. This is an ambitious and radical programme of reform, which will modernise parts of our tax and electoral system, ensure we put the needs of looked-after children ahead of profits, and create a Senedd which reflects the Wales we live in today.
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“Our reforms will transform bus services, giving people greater choice about how they travel, and help us towards our ambition of a million Welsh-speakers by 2050.”
So what exactly is the Welsh Government planning on introducing over the next 12 months? These are eight of the laws that will be introduced to the Senedd:
Senedd Reform Bill
A bill to reform the Senedd will be introduced when the Welsh Parliament returns from the summer recess. The Welsh Government say that this “once-in-a-generation Bill” will” create a modern Senedd, reflecting the breadth of devolved responsibilities, and the Wales we live in today. It will create a Senedd which is better able to represent and serve the people of Wales, with increased capacity to scrutinise, make laws, and hold the government to account.”
This will involve adding over 30 new members to the Welsh Parliament.
The Bus Bill
The Welsh Government says this would reform and improve bus services, “putting people before profit, to match what our communities need”.
It hopes that this would make the bus service more connected and logical. The Government’s white paper said that there would be a “single, simple, easy to use ticketing system” and tying the bus timetables more closely with other transport.
Disused Tips Safety Bill
Wales’ industrial past has left often poor communities burdened with unsightly and often unsafe coal tips.
The Welsh Government says it wants to introduce a “world first in managing disused tips” which reforming current laws around coal tip safety and “give greater security to the people living in their shadow”.
Welsh Language Education Bill -
The aim of this bill is to increase the number of people who can speak Welsh and to protect Welsh-speaking communities.
Mark Drakeford told the Senedd: “We will act purposefully to increase the number of people who can speak Welsh and to protect our Welsh-speaking communities.
“Our 2050 ambition is that every pupil in Wales will become a confident Welsh speaker by the time they leave school and there is a responsibility on the entire education system to work towards that goal. This ambition will be reflected in our Welsh Language Education Bill.”
Electoral bill – (name of bill is to be decided)
This will involve the automatic registration of voters and “strengthen electoral administration” by establishing an Electoral Management Board.
The Welsh Government said: “We are committed to reducing the democratic deficit in Wales and developing an electoral system fit for the 21st century.”
The Bill will also aim to enhance accessibility of devolved elections for disabled voters and improve candidate safety by extending the scope of the offence of undue influence.
Local Government Finance Bill
This law will aim to bring in a council tax revaluation of all 1.5 million properties in Wales to rebalance the system to reflect property values as the current system is 20 years out of date
The Welsh Government says that the new system of bands and tax rates will be more progressive.
Mark Drakeford said: “We will introduce a Local Government Finance Bill which will contribute to reforms of our council tax and non-domestic rates systems. The reforms will pave the way for these systems becoming more closely aligned with changes in market conditions, more responsive to the evolving pressures faced by people and organisations, and more tailored to Wales’ needs as a result of being maintained within devolved structures. Extensive research work and our experience of operating these systems over many years make clear that targeted reforms are very much needed in this area.”
Gender Quotas Bill
In a second bill, building on the bill growing the size of the Senedd, the Welsh Government will introduce gender quotas for candidates for election to the Senedd.
This Gender Quotas Bill with the aim of ensuring that the Senedd is representative of the gender make-up of the population, making it a more effective legislature for, and on behalf of, the people of Wales.
Eliminating profit from care for children
Mark Drakeford has said the Welsh Government will “bring forward primary legislation to support the implementation of the… commitment to eliminate private profit from the care of looked after children” add that “it is a priority for this government”.
Responding to the First Minister’s statement on the legislative programme, Jess Blair, Director of ERS Cymru said: "We welcome the First Minister's statement in the Senedd today on the legislative programme for the next 12 months. This programme includes long awaited legislation to improve our democracy, including a Bill to reform the Senedd. Increasing the Senedd's capacity will deliver better scrutiny of significant budgets, legislation and better hold the Welsh Government to account. It has been clear in the near quarter of a century since devolution that the size of our parliament is not sufficient and we must take steps to bring Wales in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland in terms of the capacity of our institution to properly do its job."
She also praised the aim of having gender balance within the Senedd. She added: "The commitment to deliver a parliament that better reflects the population of Wales through the introduction of gender quotas is also to be welcomed. Wales once led in women's representation, as the first parliament to reach 50:50 gender balance, but since then that has slipped back. These measures will put in place mechanisms to ensure that our national parliament is properly representative of women in Wales. More must be done to increase the representation of people with other protected characteristics, not least people from ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled people, and we hope to see measures to improve the wider diversity of the Senedd included in this legislation.
"A Bill to improve electoral administration introduces important initiatives to increase the number of people registered to vote in Wales. Each piece of legislation is a step towards building a better democracy - one in which every person in Wales feels properly represented. Taken together this is a UK-leading package of reform and we look forward to seeing the legislation come to fruition and become a reality in time for the 2026 elections."
