Extra 30 Senedd members would cost around £12m

An additional 30 Senedd members would cost around an extra £12m per year, according to new estimates.

In 2017 an expert panel recommended an extra 20 to 30 members to enable the institution to cope with a growing workload.

A 90 member Welsh Parliament with more debate and committee sessions would cost an extra £11.7m in non-election years and £12.9m in election years.

The figures were set out by Presiding Officer Elin Jones.

Any changes will not happen before next year's Senedd election.

In a letter to a Senedd committee considering electoral reform, Ms Jones sets out cost projections if 20 or 30 Members of the Senedd (MSs) were added to the current 60.

Figures for an 80-member Senedd are between £8.6m and £9.5m.

The estimates are slightly lower than ones initially put forward by the presiding officer to the committee in January.

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Net expenditure of the Welsh Parliament, then known as the Welsh Assembly, stood at £56.5m in 2018-19.

The committee, chaired by Labour Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney MS Dawn Bowden, intends to publish a report later this summer on the parliament's capacity, diversity and electoral system.

Any changes to the electoral system, including an increase in the number of MSs, would require a degree of cross-party support as a two-thirds majority would be needed in a Senedd vote.

Wales' Auditor General Adrian Crompton has also written to the committee outlining his belief that the Senedd does not currently have the capacity to carry out its "representative, scrutiny and legislative functions now and in the future".

Analysis by David Deans, BBC Wales political reporter

Despite the concerns of Wales' chief spending watchdog, a consensus on the issue has eluded the Senedd so far. It seems likely to continue to do so.

Previous proposals from a group led by Laura McAllister did not win support and, with key Welsh Labour backing missing, the ball was kicked to the May 2021 election.

In the meantime, the Senedd established a committee to find a cross-party way forward, but only Labour and Plaid members currently sit on it.

The Welsh Conservatives never joined. The Brexit Party were involved, but later pulled out.

Whatever the committee's outcome, the future of the recommendations will rely on the result Welsh voters deliver in May.