Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Act 2026

The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 (nawm 4) E+W

5 (1) The National Assembly for Wales Commissioner for Standards Measure 2009 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 4 (appointment of an Acting Commissioner), in subsection (4)(c), for “section 1(8)(a), (b) and (c)” substitute “section 1(8)”.

(3) In section 6 (functions of the Commissioner), in subsection (1)—

(a) after paragraph (b) insert—

“(ba) to receive any referral by a Member of the Senedd as to whether, at a relevant time, the member’s own conduct failed to comply with a requirement of a relevant provision,

(bb) to investigate any such referral in accordance with the provisions of this Measure,”;

(b) in paragraph (c), for “such investigation” substitute “investigation under paragraph (b) or (bb)”;

(c) in paragraph (d), for “to which paragraph (a) applies” substitute “and referrals under this Measure and about procedures for investigating conduct under section 10A”;

(d) in paragraph (e), for “section 7” substitute “sections 7 and 10A”.

(4) In section 7 (further functions of the Commissioner), in paragraph (b) omit “complaints”.

(5) In the heading of section 9, in the Welsh text, for “gyfeirio” substitute “atgyfeirio”.

(6) In section 10 (investigation of complaints by the Commissioner)—

(a) in the heading, for “of complaints by the Commissioner” substitute “by the Commissioner of complaints and self-referrals by Members of the Senedd”;

(b) in subsection (1)—

(i) after “investigate complaints” insert “and self-referrals by Members of the Senedd”;

(ii) in paragraph (b), after “against” insert “, or self-referrals by,”;

(c) after subsection (1) insert—

“(1A) The rules mentioned in subsection (1)(b) may prescribe conditions which the Commissioner must be satisfied are met before the Commissioner conducts an investigation under this section (for example, provision about form and contents of a complaint or self-referral by a Member of the Senedd, setting time-limits for commencing an investigation or rules about evidence requirements).”;

(d) in subsection (3)—

(i) after “dismiss a complaint” insert “or self-referral by a Member of the Senedd”;

(ii) after “and” insert “, in the case of a complaint,”;

(e) in subsection (5), after “carrying out an investigation” insert “under this section”;

(f) after subsection (5) insert—

“(6) Standing Orders must make provision for investigations under this section.”

(7) In section 16(1) (restriction on disclosure of information)—

(a) the words “disclose any information” to the end become paragraph (a);

(b) after paragraph (a) insert—

“(b) disclose any information which is furnished to or obtained by them in the course of, or for the purposes of, an investigation under section 10A.”

(8) In section 19 (annual report), in subsection (4), in the English text—

(a) in the words before paragraph (a), for “Committee on Standards of Conduct” substitute “Standards of Conduct Committee”;

(b) in paragraph (b), for “which such information” substitute “with such information”.

(9) In section 20 (interpretation)—

(a) in subsection (1), in the English text—

(i) omit the definition of “the Committee on Standards of Conduct”;

(ii) in the appropriate places, insert—

• ““relevant provision” (“darpariaeth berthnasol”) has the meaning given by section 6(3);”;

• ““relevant time” (“adeg berthnasol”) has the meaning given by section 6(2), except in section 10A;”;

• ““the Standards of Conduct Committee” (“y Pwyllgor Safonau Ymddygiad) means the committee of the Senedd that must be established by virtue of section 30A of the Act;”;

(b) in subsection (2), in the English text, for “Committee on Standards of Conduct” substitute “Standards of Conduct Committee”.

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. para. 5 in force at 28.4.2026, see s. 26(1)