Chapter 4: Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru
Section 66 - Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru: persons who may not be members etc.
174.Section 66 amends the 2013 Act by adding to the list of those who are excluded from being members of the Commission so as to ensure impartiality. Those added to the list are members of staff of a National Park authority for a National Park in Wales, members or members of staff of a corporate joint committee, and members or members of staff of a fire and rescue authority. The amendment also clarifies the exclusion for local authority staff.
Section 67 – Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru: governance and audit committee
175.Section 67 amends section 17 of the 2013 Act so that it requires the Commission to establish a governance and audit committee. It also confers additional review and assessment functions on the committee in relation to the Commission’s internal and external audit arrangements, handling of complaints and review of financial statements and reports. Provision is also made which enables the Commission to confer further suitable functions on the committee. Further, the section amends section 18 of the 2013 Act to specify the maximum number of members of the committee, the minimum number of lay members of the committee and to provide that both the committee chair and deputy to the chair, must be lay members of the committee.
Section 68 – Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru: power to charge
176.Section 68 amends the 2013 Act to insert section 11A, which provides the Commission with a power to charge recipients of goods or training provided by the Commission in relation to its electoral administration functions, or those relating to the functions of a principal council under Part 3 of the 2013 Act, where the recipient has agreed to receive the goods or training. For example, the Commission may provide optional training sessions to the electoral community, and could impose a charge on attendees to recover the cost of providing the training.
