Consultation on the changes to local government elections rules in Wales: integrated impact assessment

The Welsh Government is intending to amend the rules governing local government elections in Wales, to reflect updates to policy and other elections legislation. Two pieces of subordinate legislation are required to make these changes, the Local Elections (Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026 and the Representation of the People Act 1983 (Security Expenses Exclusion) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2026. 

The Local Elections (Wales) (Amendment) Rules 2026

Responsibility for local government and Senedd elections was devolved to Wales through the Wales Act 2017. Presently, local government elections in Wales are governed by the Local Elections (Principal Areas) (Wales) Rules 2021 (“the Principal Areas Rules”) for county and county borough councils, and the Local Elections (Communities) (Wales) Rules 2021 (“the Communities Rules”) for town and community councils. We refer to these two sets of rules in this document as “the 2021 Rules”. 

The 2021 Rules were fully redrafted and modernised in 2021. The Principal Areas Rules were updated further in 2023 to enable elections to be conducted under the Single Transferable Vote system, should any principal council adopt that system under the power in the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

We are therefore not proposing making significant changes to the 2021 Rules, aside from some, largely technical, changes or those required to take account of changes to policy and other legislation. 

The main changes proposed relate to updating the 2021 Rules to ensure they are bilingual, and that they reflect recent changes made to the Senedd election rules contained in the Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025 (“the Conduct Order”). 

In practice, in terms of procedures and requirements, the 2021 Rules will largely be unchanged. The changes can be summarised as follows: 

• Welsh language requirements
• updating prescribed forms 
• accessibility equipment duty
• joint descriptors 
• working digitally
• use of schools and public rooms
• filling casual vacancies in town and community councils: “6 month rule” correction 
• corrections and minor amendments

Representation of the People Act 1983 (Security Expenses Exclusion) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2026

In order to reflect the changes to policy and other legislation, a separate piece of subordinate legislation is required to make amendments to candidate expenses. 

The Representation of the People Act 1983 (Security Expenses Exclusion) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2026 (“the Exclusion Order”) makes an amendment to paragraph 13A of Schedule 4A to the Representation of the People Act 1983 (“RPA 1983”). 

This ensures ensure that candidates at local government elections will not, as part of their election expenses, have to account for reasonable expenses incurred in providing for their personal security and the protection of property. This is in line with the position for candidates at Senedd elections and other UK elections.

Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 

There is clear alignment between the Amendment Rules and the Exclusion Order, and the five ways of working as set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (“the Future Generations Act”). The Five Ways of Working have been considered throughout the development of this proposal and are discussed below.

Ways of working: long term 

By amending the rules governing local government elections in Wales, this ensures that election legislation is as up to date as possible, reflecting recent changes to policy and other legislation. This ensures that the processes of local government elections in Wales are safeguarded for the long-term, and are consistent with other types of elections. 

Ways of working: prevention 

By amending the rules governing local government elections in Wales to ensure consistency across elections and therefore strengthening the administration of elections, this will help ensure the resilience of their delivery in the future. 

Ways of working: integration 

The Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order are part of wider elections legislation framework that will help with the delivery of the Local Government Elections in 2027.  

Ways of working: collaboration 

We have worked closely across Welsh Government with policy officials to ensure that the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order are updated in relation to policy and legislative changes. We have also worked with our electoral stakeholders to seek their views and will continue to do so ahead of the Local Government Elections in 2027. 

Ways of working: involvement 

A 12-week public consultation ran from 20 October 2025 to 12 January 2026 on the draft Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order. The consultation was drawn to the attention of a wide audience of key election stakeholders including Returning Officers, elections administrators, the Electoral Commission and local authorities. Responses to the consultation were considered in detail and we will continue to work with stakeholders throughout the implementation of both pieces of subordinate legislation.  

Proposal impact 

The Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order support electoral reform and are part of a wider package of measures that aim to improve the democracy of Wales, and this is an overall positive impact. The two pieces of subordinate legislation are in line with the principles of electoral reform, outlined below, which are used to benchmark the agenda of electoral reform and Welsh Government’s approach to supporting democratic engagement and participation. 

Principles of electoral reform: 

• Equity: every person that wishes to participate in democracy must be enabled to do so, and to do so in a safe and respectful environment, so that our institutions are diverse and representative of the people they serve.
• Accessibility: changes to electoral systems and electoral law should be based on the principle of making voting and participation in democracy as accessible and convenient as possible, building capacity to allow that to happen and encouraging creativity at every level of democracy.
• Participation: we want as many people as possible to exercise their democratic right to vote. It is the role of everyone involved in electoral administration to maximise the number of people turning out at elections.
• Improving citizen experience: citizens should be provided with the tools to shape their communities and country through engagement, representation and participation.
• Simplicity: the administrative electoral system and electoral law in Wales must be modernised to make registering to vote, voting and participating more straightforward for citizens.
• Integrity: integrity and transparency must underpin all electoral reforms in Wales. We must have a system that citizens trust and a sharing of information from legitimate sources.

The Amendment Rules will have an overall positive impact on accessibility in local government elections in Wales, as it introduces a duty for Returning Officers to provide equipment as is considered reasonable for the purposes of making it easier for disabled people to vote. This is consistent with recent changes in the Senedd Cymru (Representation of the People) Order 2025. This will be supported by guidance produced by the Electoral Commission. For UK elections, this included equipment which should be provided as a minimum. Including chairs, magnifiers, tactile voting devices, ramps, doorbells and disabled parking. 

There will also be a positive impact on the Welsh Language. The 2021 Rules already require all prescribed forms to be produced bilingually. The Amendment Rules includes processes within the 2021 Rules to ensure that provision is made for both the Welsh and English languages.

The Exclusion Order will ensure that spending on candidate safety-related costs can be exempted from candidate spending limit, which will bring all devolved elections in line with the UK approach and meets an important recommendation from the Jo Cox report. This will positively impact candidates by helping support their safety and security. 

Proposal costs and savings 

Estimated costs and savings are set out in in the draft Regulatory Impact Assessment (“RIA”) published in the Explanatory Memorandums to both pieces of subordinate legislation alongside this IIA. 

Proposal mechanism 

Two pieces of subordinate legislation are necessary to deliver the proposal. 

How have people most likely to be affected by the proposal been involved in developing it?

The Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order are intended for use by electoral practitioners and candidates. 

A 12-week consultation ran from 20 October 2025 to 12 January 2026 on the draft Amendment Rules and draft Exclusion Order. The consultation was drawn to the attention of a wide audience of key election stakeholders including Returning Officers, elections administrators, the Electoral Commission and local authorities. The consultation document was made available in Welsh and English in order for the consultation to be conducted bilingually. 

What are the most significant impacts, positive and negative?

The most significant impact of the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will be to way local elections in Wales are conducted. The Amendment Rules will update existing legislation to reflect recent changes to policy and legislation, specific to Welsh circumstances. 

The 2 pieces of subordinate legislation deliver against the current Programme for Government, and form part of a wider package of reforms that will strengthen democracy in Wales. It is also a positive step forward in making democracy accessible for all. 

In light of the impacts identified, how will the proposal: 

• maximise contribution to our well-being objectives and the seven well-being goals;  and/or,

• avoid, reduce or mitigate any negative impacts?

The purpose of the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order is to amend existing legislation to reflect recent changes to policy and legislation, ensuring consistency across elections legislation in Wales.

Well-being goals

A More Equal Wales: the provisions contained within the Amendment Rules relating to accessibility of elections for disabled people will help contribute to this well-being goal. 

The Amendment Rules update existing legislation with recent policy and legislation changes to ensure consistency for administrators, campaigners and voters across elections in Wales. 

A Wales of Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language: the Amendment Rules takes steps to ensure that Welsh is treated no less favourably than English during the conduct of local elections.

Well-being objectives

The Welsh Government has 10 well-being objectives used to maximise contribution to the well-being goals. 

The 10 well-being objectives are as follows: 

1. Provide effective, high quality and sustainable healthcare: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
2. Continue our long-term programme of education reform, and ensure educational inequalities narrow and standards rise: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
3. Protect, re-build and develop our services for vulnerable people: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order directly impact this objective. 
4. Celebrate diversity and move to eliminate inequality in all of its forms: the Amendment Rules makes amendment to existing legislation provisions relating to accessibility and the equipment to be provided at polling stations to assist disabled voters, and so will help to contribute to this objective. 
5. Build an economy based on the principles of fair work, sustainability and the industries and services of the future: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
6. Push towards a million Welsh speakers, and enable our tourism, sports and arts industries to thrive: the Amendment Rules contain amendments to existing legislation relating to ensure that the Welsh language is treated equally during the conduct of local elections, and so will help contribute to this objective. 
7. Build a stronger, greener economy as we make maximum progress towards decarbonisation: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
8. Make our cities, towns and villages even better places in which to live and work: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
9. Embed our response to the climate and nature emergency in everything we do: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will not directly impact this objective. 
10. Lead Wales in a national civic conversation about our constitutional future, and give our country the strongest possible presence on the world stage: the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will help contribute to this objective as it reflects recent changes to policy and other elections legislation that introduce some parts of Senedd and electoral reforms. 

How will the impact of the proposal be monitored and evaluated as it progresses and when it concludes? 

The impact of the Amendment Rules and Exclusion Order will be monitored and evaluated through engagement with stakeholders. This engagement will help to monitor the effectiveness of the changes brought about by the subordinate legislation. 

The Amendment Rules will be assessed prior to future local government elections after 2027, with the view to identifying any potential amendments.