Women, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities are under-represented in Welsh local government, according to a new Senedd committee report.

The Local Government and Housing Committee’s diversity inquiry said there had been ‘some recent improvements’ but warned that councils were still not representative of the population.

The committee also found that there was a ‘severe lack of data’ on candidates’ backgrounds. Local authorities are required to survey all council candidates about their backgrounds, but only 12% responded to the 2022 survey.

A key recommendation of the report was that the Welsh government should consider how more people from under-represented groups could benefit from assistance to put themselves forward for election.

The committee welcomed the Welsh government’s Access to Elected Office Fund, which helps people with disabilities stand for office, but said more needs to be done to raise awareness of its existence.

The committee’s report also recommended that similar schemes be introduced for other under-represented groups, such as ethnic minorities.

John Griffiths MS, chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, said: ‘Today’s report raises important questions about our democracy and whether it is representative of everyone who lives in Wales. Unfortunately, it’s clear that there remains much more work to be done to ensure that local government represents people from all backgrounds.

‘An assistance scheme to support people who are under-represented in politics needs to be a Welsh Government priority if we are serious about improving the diversity of our local representatives. I’m pleased to see provision for this in the Elections and Elected Bodies (Wales) Bill, which we will be scrutinising over the next few months.’