Wales annual report

During 2023-24 much of our work focussed on supporting the programme of electoral reforms being delivered by Welsh Government:

• Worked closely with Welsh Government officials on policy development.
• Provided comprehensive written evidence on the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections Bill), the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill and the Senedd Cymru (Electoral Candidate Lists) Bill.
• Appeared before Senedd Committees to give evidence on the three bills.

Throughout the year we focussed activity on our advice and support service to our stakeholders, including electoral administrators and candidates, agents and parties:

• Worked with the Wales Electoral Coordination Board (WECB), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and electoral administrators to ensure that the impact of divergence in electoral systems as a result of provisions introduced in the Elections Act 2022 were mitigated.
• Used our performance standards frameworks to support and monitor Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers throughout the year on election and electoral registration to ensure voters receive high quality and consistent service.
• Worked with parties to help them understand new rules around digital imprints.
• Delivered training to candidates and agents via virtual briefing sessions and party conferences.
• Delivered training to third sector organisations who intend to campaign at reserved elections.
• Worked with police forces in Wales to address concerns raised by candidates about abuse and intimidation at elections.
• Delivered two new campaigns to raise awareness of the voter ID requirement and voter registration ahead of the May 2024 elections.

We have continued to expand our programme of democratic engagement work in Wales:

• Published guidance for primary and secondary schools on how to embed democratic education within the Curriculum for Wales.
• Launched a new resource on how to hold an in-school referendum.
• Recruited Children in Wales as our new youth voice partner
• Delivered Welcome to Your Vote Week with over 60 schools and youth groups across Wales.
• Briefed over 20 partner organisations supporting those least likely to own an accepted form of ID ahead of the May elections

• In September 2023 the lease on our office at Companies House expired and we extended our stay while we looked for alternative office space. We moved into the new office, James William House, in March 2024. The new premises offers the space to work as a team, the potential for future growth in staff numbers, and supports us to host meetings of various stakeholder groups.
• We engaged with the Senedd’s Llywydd’s Committee and gave evidence in November 2023 during its scrutiny of our 2024/25 supply estimate.
• We held the November 2023 Board meeting in Cardiff and, as well as the meeting itself at the Senedd, there was a programme of partner activities arranged for Board members, including sessions with the Counsel General, the WECB and a local youth forum
• The Welsh Language Commissioner conducted their bi-annual monitoring of the Electoral Commission’s compliance with the Welsh Language Standards. The Commission scored highly or moderately in the compliance testing in nearly all areas tested. Work is underway to further improve compliance even further.

• Continue to seek feedback from educators in Wales to better understand their training needs. We will explore establishing a teachers’ forum to improve the delivery and consistency of democratic education across Wales. With support from Welsh Government and the Senedd Commission, the group will focus on building knowledge amongst teachers and pupils of all ages ahead of a UK general election and devolved elections in 2026 and 2027.
• Introduce a new partnership grant scheme, which will provide funding for projects that aim to increase knowledge and understanding of the democratic system amongst under-registered groups.
• Work with the new Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru and the WECB as it transitions to become a statutory Electoral Management Board in early 2025.
• Continue to provide advice on new legislation including secondary legislation arising from the bills which will set out the detailed rules for the 2026 Senedd elections.
• Continue to support Returning Officers, electoral administrations, candidates, and agents
• Support and evaluate the introduction of the new electoral reforms, such as piloting of automatic registration.
• Continue to work with governments across the UK and the wider electoral community to consider the risks around cyber-security and disinformation. This includes working with voters to ensure they are confident about who is targeting them and why, so they can be alert to the risks of disinformation in all forms.

The Electoral Commission serves a diverse democracy in Wales, and we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. Ahead of the May 2023 elections we ran briefing sessions with 18 organisations supporting those less likely to be registered to vote and own an accepted form of ID, such as disabled people, people experiencing homelessness and ethnic minority communities. Partner organisations included Mencap Cymru, Cymorth Cymru and the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales. 

In the year ahead, we will also be working closely with representatives from the electoral community to explore how we can improve the accessibility of the electoral process for people who experience barriers to participating in elections. 64 We are committed to providing all guidance and resources on our website in Welsh as well as English, and will continue to review our translation processes to ensure that information is accessible to all.

During 2023/24, we utilised 96.6% of £1.5m of budget available. This was predominately staffing £0.9m (60%); the remaining amounts represent the Senedd contribution to common activities and corporate overheads. Our segmental reporting on page 154 of the full report shows the breakdown between direct and indirect costs.

The Commission is formally accountable to, and receives funding from, the Senedd in respect of its functions in relation to devolved Welsh elections and referendums. We report to the Llywydd’s Committee which was established for this purpose.

In September 2023 we submitted our fourth estimate to the Senedd enabling the UK Treasury to transfer the agreed level of funding to the Welsh Consolidated Fund. This process followed the “Statement of Funding Principles”, which was agreed with the Senedd in early 2021. 

We also submitted a supplementary estimate for 2023/24 to cover a staff pay award in response to the cost-of-living increase faced by staff, and the costs of addressing a cyber-security attack on the Commission. This was approved by the Llywydd’s Committee in January 2024.