UK Parliament / Open data

Wales Bill

Proceeding contribution from Alun Cairns (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 12 September 2016. It occurred during Debate on bills on Wales Bill.

The hon. Gentleman is clearly missing the purpose of what we are trying to do. We are seeking to devolve responsibility for local elections to Wales, but because the franchise for those elections is linked to that for the elections for police and crime commissioners, any change to the franchise for local government elections in Wales will have a consequential effect on that for PCC elections, which are non-devolved. We are therefore seeking to separate the franchises, so that the same people have the right to vote as is currently the case. That will give the Welsh Government the freedom to change the franchise for local government elections as they see fit, should they, for example, wish to change

the voting age. It would not be appropriate for such changes to be extended to elections for police and crime commissioners. That is the purpose of the new clause.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
614 c641 
Session
2016-17
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Legislation
Wales Bill 2016-17
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