This consultation paper sets out the Government's options and proposals for changes to the make-up of the Assembly, including the number of Assembly constituencies, the length of Assembly terms, whether candidates can stand at the same election in an Assembly constituency and a region and whether Assembly members should be able to sit simultaneously in the Westminster Parliament

The draft Wales Bill was published following the recommendations of the Silk Commission in November 2012. It sets out to devolve tax and borrowing powers to the Welsh Government and National Assembly for Wales, make changes to the electoral arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales, and clarify and update the devolution settlement. The Government hopes that the provisions in the draft Wales Bill will enable devolved governance in Wales to become more accountable. The cross-party Committee believes partial devolution of income tax to the Welsh Government should be put to the people of Wales in a referendum. The cross-party Committee also has sympathy with the argument that the issue of "fair funding" must be resolved before any income tax powers are devolved so that Wales is not unfairly disadvantaged. The issue of fair funding - how the size of the block grant from the UK Government is determined, currently by the Barnett formula which has long been criticised as providing an unfairly low allocation to Wales - needs to be examined and should not wait until after the 2015 General Election. The National Assembly for Wales should have power to decide its own Assembly term length, rather than this being decided at Westminster. The Committee recommends the clause in the draft Bill which permanently extends the length of the Assembly from four to five years should be scrapped and replaced with provisions that give the National Assembly the powers to determine the length of its own electoral term.

The draft Wales Bill is presented for pre-legislative scrutiny. The Bill implements almost all of the recommendations from the first report from the Independent Commission in Devolution in Wales (the Silk Commission) on the devolution of tax and borrowing powers to the National Assembly for Wales and the Welsh Government. This paper includes English and Welsh language texts of the draft Bill, explanatory notes and a summary impact assessment

This Command Paper is part of a series of documents looking at constitutional and electoral issues whose objectives and aims are set out in the original Green Paper (Cm. 7170 - The Governance of Britain, ISBN 978010171021). There is a perception that Thursday is not the most accessible day for voting and that changing to weekend voting would improve access and opportunities. This consultation paper aims to promote debate on the merits of moving the election day from Thursday to the weekend, and on the best way to do this, for UK Parliamentary general elections, local elections in England and Wales and European Parliamentary elections. In particular, the paper looks at: pertinent issues including religious concerns; whether any move would impact upon the security of elections; the relationship between absent voting (eg postal voting) and election day; to what extent the mechanisms for voting - for example, remote voting through postal votes, use of the internet or telephone - would be acceptable alternatives to those for whom weekend voting would present difficulties; what people perceive as the benefits and drawbacks of remote e-voting; whether changing the day would incentivise non-voters to vote; whether any possible additional costs of weekend voting (which may range between £38 million and £58 million per national election) are outweighed by any potential benefits. The results from this consultation will be fed into a citizens' summit which will consider the issue in detail and make a recommendation to Parliament.