45.New section 30A requires that the Senedd must have as one of its committees a committee which has functions relating to the standards of conduct of Members of the Senedd (“Members”). This section provides the Committee is to be known as the Standards of Conduct Committee but also provides the committee can be known by another name that the Senedd chooses. Subsection (2) specifies the Committee must have functions relating to the standards of conduct of members as specified in standing orders and also provides that the Committee may have other functions if the Standing Orders so provide.
46.Subsection (3) provides that the number of members of the Committee is to be set out in the Standing Orders, enabling the Senedd to decide upon the exact number of members of that Committee.
47.Subsection (4) provides that the Standing Orders must require there to be at least one lay member of the Committee (although section 18(4) of the Bill provides that this is not mandatory until 7 November 2027). This is also subject to the provision in new section 30B(1) which states that the number of lay members may not exceed the number of members of the Committee who are Members of the Senedd. A lay member is defined at subsection (5), for the purpose of this section, as a member who is not an elected Member of the Senedd.
48.Subsections (6) to (10) make further provision about the provision Standing Orders may and must include as regards the governance of the Committee and its lay members.
49.In particular, subsection (6) provides that the Senedd’s Standing Orders may make provision:
50.Subsection (7) sets out provisions that Standing Orders must make in relation to the participation and voting rights of lay members in proceedings concerning the conduct of members (although this is subject to the provision in section 18(4) that such provision is not mandatory until 7 November 2027 or provision is made in Standing Orders about the inclusion of lay members on the Committee, whichever is the sooner). Lay members must be permitted to have the same participation and voting rights as Members of the Senedd where the proceedings of the committee relate to the conduct of a Member of the Senedd and Standing Orders must specify the number of lay members and other members required for those proceedings to be quorate. Subsection (8) provides that for other proceedings of that committee, it is at the discretion of the Senedd, to be set out in Standing Orders, as to whether lay members should have participation and voting rights and to specify the number of lay members and other members required for such proceedings to be quorate. Subsection (9) places a restriction on the Senedd’s discretion by specifying that lay members are not to be permitted to participate or vote in proceedings that relate to the scrutiny of legislation.
51.If the Standing Orders provide that a sub-committee of the Committee is established which is made up entirely of lay members for the purposes of carrying out reviews of or appeals against proceedings relating to the conduct of Members of the Senedd as permitted by subsection (6)(c), subsection (10) disapplies subsection (7) because in that situation there would not be any Members of the Senedd on that sub-committee and therefore no requirement for parity of voting and participation rights.
Commentary on Sections Section 30A – Standards of Conduct Committee