The Welsh Government should “seek the approval of its voters” by holding a referendum before expanding the size of the Senedd, the UK Government Wales Secretary has said.

At Wales Questions, Conservative MP for Devizes Danny Kruger said: “The Welsh Government has decided it wants to increase the size of the Senedd, however there are real concerns that this will lead to a lack of proportionality in representation.

“Does he agree that this money would be much better spent on public services?”

Simon Hart replied: “Indeed I do. I have to say if this Government was making suggestions of this nature involving the constitution and voting measures, I have every belief that pretty well all of the members opposite would be saying this should be subject to a public referendum at the very least.

“So I would suggest that the proper course of action for Welsh Government is to seek the approval of its voters before proceeding with any of these costly measures.”

Earlier this month, the Welsh Government - along with Plaid Cymru, which endorsed the plan - published proposals to dramatically reform the Senedd.

This included increasing the number of members, changing the electoral system, and bringing in statutory gender quotas.

If realised, the plan would increase the number of Senedd Members from 60 to 96.

All members would be elected using proportional representation - specifically, the D’Hondt method, which is the system already used to allocate regional Senedd seats.

Each of the 32 new Parliamentary constituencies in Wales proposed by the Boundary for Wales would be paired, creating a total of 16 Senedd constituencies.

Each of those constituencies would elect six members.