Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Act 2026

18 Standards of Conduct Committee E+W

(1) The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) is amended by subsections (2) and (3).

(2) In section 28 (committees and sub-committees)—

(a) in subsection (1)(b), omit “power to appoint”;

(b) in subsection (2), after “Member of the Senedd” insert “, except the members of the Standards of Conduct Committee or a sub-committee of the Standards of Conduct Committee”.

(3) After section 30 (Audit Committee) insert—

“30A Standards of Conduct Committee

(1) The committees of the Senedd must include one to be known as the Standards of Conduct Committee or Pwyllgor Safonau Ymddygiad or by such other name as the Senedd may determine; and, if the Senedd makes such a determination, references to the committee in—

(a) any enactment (including any enactment comprised in or made under this Act) or prerogative instrument, or

(b) any other instrument or document,

have effect accordingly.

(2) The Standards of Conduct Committee is to have functions relating to the standards of conduct of Members of the Senedd specified by the standing orders; and the standing orders may specify that it has other functions.

(3) The Standards of Conduct Committee is to have the number of members specified by the standing orders.

(4) The standing orders must provide for the membership of the Standards of Conduct Committee to include one or more lay members.

(5) In this section and in section 30B, “lay member” means a member who is not a Member of the Senedd.

(6) The standing orders may include provision—

(a) for excluding from the proceedings of the Standards of Conduct Committee, or a sub-committee of the Committee, a member of the committee or sub-committee who is a lay member;

(b) for the membership of sub-committees of the Standards of Conduct Committee, which may include provision for members of sub-committees who are not appointed by, nor members of, the Committee;

(c) for sub-committees of the Standards of Conduct Committee that are composed entirely of one or more lay members for the purpose of carrying out appeals or reviews of Committee or sub-committee proceedings concerning the conduct of Members of the Senedd.‍

(7) The standing orders must provide for—

(a) lay members of the Committee to have the same participation and voting rights as other members of the Committee, and

(b) the number of lay members and other members required for proceedings to be quorate,

in Committee or sub-committee proceedings concerning the conduct of a Member of the Senedd.

(8) The standing orders may provide for—

(a) lay members of the Committee to have the same participation and voting rights as other members of the Committee, and

(b) the number of lay members and other members required for proceedings to be quorate,

in Committee or sub-committee proceedings concerning other matters, subject to subsection (9).

(9) The standing orders may not allow lay members of the Committee to participate or vote as a member in Committee or sub-committee proceedings concerning the scrutiny of legislation.

(10) Subsection (7) does not apply to sub-committees of the kind described in subsection (6)(c).

30B Lay members of the Standards of Conduct Committee etc.

(1) Standing orders may not provide for there to be more lay members of the Standards of Conduct Committee (“the Committee”) than members who are Members of the Senedd.

(2) Lay members must be appointed by resolution of Senedd Cymru.

(3) A motion for a resolution under subsection (2) may only be tabled with the consent of the Presiding Officer and in accordance with any provision made by standing orders.

(4) The person who is the subject of the motion must have been selected on merit on the basis of fair and open competition in accordance with arrangements made by standing orders.

(5) An appointment of a lay member is to be—

(a) for a fixed term not exceeding 6 years, which may end after the expected date of the next ordinary general election of the Senedd;

(b) on such other terms and conditions as may be made under arrangements made by standing orders.

(6) If provision is made in standing orders for a sub-committee of the kind described in section 30A(6)(c), at least one person appointed as a lay member is to be legally qualified; but this does not require each sub-committee of that kind to include a legally qualified person.

(7) A person is legally qualified for the purposes of subsection (6) if the person has a general qualification within the meaning of section 71(3)(c) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41).

(8) A person is disqualified from appointment as a lay member if that person—‍

(a) holds an office specified in subsection (9), or

(b) has at any time held an office that is specified in any of paragraphs (a) to (h) of subsection (9).

(9) The offices are—

(a) Member of the Senedd;

(b) member of the House of Commons;

(c) member of the House of Lords;

(d) member of the Scottish Parliament;

(e) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly;

(f) Counsel General, where the person holding the office is not also a Member of the Senedd;

(g) police and crime commissioner for a police area in Wales or England;

(h) member of the council of a county or county borough in Wales;

(i) member of the council of a community in Wales;

(j) the disqualifying offices in the second column of the table in Part 2 of Schedule 1A, except the judicial offices.

(10) A person may not be appointed to serve more than 2 terms of office as a lay member (whether or not the terms of office are consecutive).

(11) A person who is a lay member ceases to be a lay member if the person—

(a) is a candidate in a Senedd general election when the period for notice of withdrawal of candidature ends and has not given such notice before the end of the period, or

(b) becomes disqualified from appointment as a lay member under subsection (8).

(12) A lay member—

(a) may resign by giving notice to the Committee;

(b) may be removed by resolution of the Senedd, if the number of votes cast in favour of the resolution is not less than two thirds of the total number of votes cast.

(13) A motion for a resolution under subsection (12)(b) may only be tabled with the consent of the Presiding Officer and in accordance with any provision made by standing orders.

(14) Standing orders must make provision for the investigation and adjudication of complaints about misconduct by lay members.

(15) The Senedd Commission may pay to lay members such remuneration and allowances as the Commission may determine.

(16) In this section “lay member” includes—

(a) a lay member of the Committee, and

(b) a lay member of a sub-committee of the Committee who is not a member of the Committee.”

(4) Until 7 November 2027, section 30A(4) and (7) and section 30B(14) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) (as inserted by subsection (3)) have effect as follows—

(a) in section 30A(4), the reference to “must” is to be interpreted as a reference to “may”, and

(b) the duties in section 30A(7) and section 30B(14) do not apply unless provision is made under section 30A(4) for the membership of the Standards of Conduct Committee to include one or more lay members.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 18 in force at 28.4.2026, see s. 26(1)