Section 30A Standards of Conduct CommitteeF1

(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).

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Ss. 30A, 30B inserted (28.4.2026) by Senedd Cymru (Member Accountability and Elections) Act 2026 (asc 9), ss. 18(3), 26(1) (with temp. modifications until 7.11.2027 in s. 18(4))

Notes on Part 1

Textual amendments

F1: Words in Pt. 1 heading substituted (6.5.2020) by Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 (anaw 1), s. 42(2), Sch. 1 para. 2(2)

Modifications

C1: Pt. 1 modified (16.2.2011) by Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 (c. 1), ss. 13(5), 19(1)