SCECLB212 Carol Beckett

Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament

Y Pwyllgor Biliau Diwygio | Reform Bill Committee

Bil Senedd Cymru (Rhestrau Ymgeiswyr Etholiadol)| Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill

Ymateb gan Carol Beckett | Evidence from Carol Beckett

What are your views on the general principles of the Bill and the need for legislation to deliver the Welsh Government’s stated policy objective (to make the Senedd a more effective legislature by ensuring it is broadly representative of the gender make-up of the population)?

I read that your objective is to deliver a government that reflects the population. So if 51% are women, half the MPs should be women.

I completely support this objective.

Biological women have struggled, as you have so carefully explained, to access positions of power, down to reasons associated with the double standards set by patriarchy.  Women's biological sex has been used as an  excuse to keep the female sex in a subjugated and weaker position.

So this laudable intention should be upheld genuinely for biological women.

What are your views on the system of enforcement and potential sanctions for non-compliance proposed in the Bill?

Quotas should be held to as much as possible.

Are there any potential barriers to the implementation of the Bill’s provisions? If so, what are they, and are they adequately taken into account in the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum and Regulatory Impact Assessment?

Are any unintended consequences likely to arise from the Bill?

What are your views on the Welsh Government’s assessment of the financial and other impacts of the Bill?

What are your views on the balance between the information contained on the face of the Bill and what is left to subordinate legislation? Are the powers for Welsh Ministers to make subordinate legislation appropriate?

Do you have any views on matters relating to the legislative competence of the Senedd including compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights?

Do you have any views on matters related to the quality of the legislation, or to the constitutional or other implications of the Bill?

Are there any other issues that you would like to raise about the Bill and the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum or any related matters?

Anything else?