Category: Get Involved

A Visitor’s Guide to the Senedd

Visiting Cardiff for the UEFA Champion’s League Final? You’ll find a warm welcome in the capital city of Wales. We are a country full of culture and heritage, and Cardiff is a fantastic place to soak up the atmosphere of this amazing sporting event.

If you find yourself in Cardiff Bay for the UEFA Champion’s League Festival, why not pay a visit to the Senedd and visit one of Wales’ most modern and most important buildings?  We’ve put together a handy guide to help you make the most of your visit.

For information in other languages:

Pour plus d’informations en français: link

Per informazioni in italiano: link

Para información en español: link

IMG_7855What is the Senedd?

The Senedd is the home of the National Assembly for Wales, and represents the heart of democracy in Wales. A modern parliamentary building which celebrated its tenth birthday last year, the Senedd is also one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings in Wales.

It is also a public building, welcoming visitors seven days a week, and boasts a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence.

Most importantly it’s free to visit and offers some of the best views in Cardiff Bay, so please come inside and have a look around.

What’s inside?

The debating chamber

The Senedd houses the debating chamber of the National Assembly for Wales. Look down below the huge funnel and you’ll be able to see where our politicians sit during parliamentary debates. Take one of our free tours to discover more about the building and what happens here.

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Café and gift shop

The Senedd has also has a café (more on that below) and a shop, which stocks local produce, souvenirs and gifts. Pick up Welsh whisky, Melin Tregwynt textile products and Senedd branded souvenirs as mementos of your visit.

Exhibitions

Next to the café is an exhibition area which regularly hosts a variety of events, exhibitions and other activities throughout the year. Come along and see what’s happening!

Take a guided tour

The best way to get to know the Senedd is through a guided tour. Visitors will learn about the history and the unique architecture of the building and discover more about the work of the National Assembly for Wales.

The tours are FREE. All you need to do is turn up and we’ll let you know what time the next one starts.

Enjoy a taste of Wales

The Senedd’s café offers a selection of hot and cold drinks, or you could sample some traditional Welsh treats – enjoy a Welsh cake or a slice of bara brith (Welsh fruit cake) with a nice British pot of tea.

The views from the seating area are fantastic – watch boats sailing on the sparkling water of Cardiff Bay, or view the hustle and bustle of the Champions League festival from below the Senedd’s impressive canopy.

Facilities and access

As with any government building, all visitors are required to go through security on their way in to the Senedd. Our security team are trained to be aware of the needs of visitors with disabilities, or who might have specific requirements based on their religious beliefs.

The Senedd is fully accessible with ramp access at the front of the building and lifts to all floors inside. A hearing loop system is available to hearing aid users.

The building offers fully assisted changing facilities and gender-neutral washrooms which are suitable for all.

Take a selfie with our Snapchat GeoFilter

If you are on Snapchat – keep an eye out for our special filter and share your photos on social media!

National Assembly for Wales Trip Advisor webpage

Senedd Facebook page

The Right to Buy in Wales is changing

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I’m John Griffiths AM (@JGriffithsLab), the Chair of the Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee.

John Griffiths AM

About the Abolition of the Right to Buy Bill

On 13 March, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant AM, introduced the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill into the Assembly. The Government’s aim for the proposed law is to protect the supply of social housing in Wales by ending all variations of the Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire.

What do the proposed changes mean?

The Right to Buy to buy for tenants of local authorities and registered landlords would be abolished after a period of at least one year after the introduction of the law. By introducing the proposed law, the Welsh Government’s stated aim is to protect the Welsh stock of social housing from reducing further, ensuring it is available to provide safe, secure and affordable housing for people who are unable to access the housing market to buy or rent a home.

Some local authorities, including Flintshire, Carmarthenshire and Anglesey have already suspended the Right to Buy scheme. The proposed law would end the Right to Buy scheme in all local authorities across Wales.

How could the changes affect me?

In making sure that existing tenants are aware of the changes, the proposed law requires the Welsh Government to publish information on its effects before abolition takes place, and social landlords must also in turn provide that information to every affected tenant within two months of the proposed law coming into force. After a waiting period of at least one year after coming into force, all rights will be abolished. This means every affected tenant can still exercise their Right to Buy within that period, but not after.

The Right to Buy across the UK

The Right to Buy and Associated Rights have already been brought to an end by the Scottish Government in Scotland, but a different approach is being taken in England by the UK Government. The UK Government has introduced its own plans to extend the Right to Buy Policy to more homes.

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The work of the Committee

The National Assembly for Wales’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee is a group of eight Assembly Members from across Wales who reflect the political makeup of the Assembly. Our job is to scrutinise decisions of the Welsh Government on matters within our remit to ensure they are in the best interests of Wales and its communities.

As the subject matter of the proposed law falls within the remit of the Committee, we have been asked to look at its ‘general principles’ or main aims. This is called ‘Stage 1’, and we use this part of the process to hear evidence and prepare a report making recommendations to the Welsh Government for changes to the proposed law if necessary. We have until 7 July to do this.

Getting involved

In May, the Committee intends to hold public engagement sessions across Wales to hear tenants’ views about the proposed law and the implications for them. These views will help inform the Committee’s inquiry alongside the written and oral evidence received.

If you are interested in taking part in these sessions, or would like us to visit, please e-mail celyn.cooper@assembly.wales.

A DialogueApp page has also been set up so that you can have your say on the Bill and share some of your ideas on how the Bill could be improved.

Updates

For all the latest information and developments, you can:

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Encouraging public participation in the work of the Assembly

Improving engagement with the people of Wales is a big priority for us at the Assembly, and increasingly we have been doing this by involving people in discussions with Assembly committees on issues they are passionate about.

This plays an important role in helping Assembly committees scrutinise the Welsh Government, but recently we have been looking into what affect these participation projects have on those citizens involved.

The Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee’s inquiry into Business Rates saw small businesses from different parts of Wales take part in video interviews with outreach officers. Their contributions were shown to Assembly Members and helped inform the Committee’s scrutiny work.

Having taken part in the video interview, and having received updates from Assembly staff on the results of their contribution, participants were asked if they felt that they had the opportunity to express their views, and given the opportunity, would they take part in an activity like this again.

They were also asked to state how much they agreed or disagreed with the following statements before they took part, and how they felt about the same statements having taken part:

  • People like me don’t have a say in the decisions the National Assembly for Wales makes;
  • I have the confidence and information needed to get involved in politics;
  • I know what role the National Assembly for Wales plays in making sure the Welsh Government is doing its job properly;
  • I pay a lot of attention to Welsh politics;
  • The National Assembly for Wales is essential to our democracy;
  • I know what decisions get made in Wales by the National Assembly for Wales;
  • I will vote in an upcoming National Assembly for Wales election.

This was the first time we have measured the effect of participation in one of our engagement initiatives from the participants’ perspective, the results of which showed us that all participants would take part again if given the opportunity, and that they felt that they had the opportunity to express their views. The most significant change in perception when comparing the responses before and after taking part were evident with the following statements:

  • ‘People like me don’t have a say in the decisions the National Assembly for Wales’: none of the participants disagreed with this statement before taking part, compared to 67% who disagreed with the statement having taken part.
  • ‘I have the confidence and information needed to get involved in politics’: half of the participants disagreed with this statement before taking part, where as 88% agreed with this statement after taking part.

Our intention is to seek to gather this type of information for the range of different engagement initiatives we deliver here, in order for us to understand their effectiveness and improve our offer in the future.

Read more: Public engagement at the National Assembly for Wales featured in a recent post on the Parliaments and Legislatures blog by Kevin Davies and Cristina Leston-Bandeira.

Kevin Davies is Senior Public Engagement Manager at the National Assembly for Wales.

Stay up to date with what’s happening at the Assembly – we have a number of social media channels you can follow.


How easy is it to contribute to our work? What changes could we make to encourage more people to get more involved?

We are running a user needs survey until Friday 10 February 2017 and would love to hear your ideas.

 

What can Wales do to address loneliness and isolation?

Figures from Age Cymru show that 75,000 older people in Wales feel lonely or isolated. Almost half of those surveyed said the television or a pet was their main companion.

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The National Assembly’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee has begun an inquiry looking how this issue affects older people in Wales. It will look at what support is available for older people and what more can be done to tackle the issue. The Committee will also look at the extent to which initiatives to combat loneliness and isolation experienced by other groups may also help older people.

There is evidence to suggest that loneliness and isolation can have a significant impact on physical and mental health and may be a cause of depression, sleep issues, stress, and even heart problems.

It’s therefore possible that preventing loneliness and isolation could  reduce the demand and pressure on health and social care services.

Loneliness and isolation are not the same thing – each can be experienced without the other. A person may feel lonely in a crowded room, isolated in a rural community or even vice versa.

The problem of loneliness and isolation has already been recognised by the Minister for Social Services and Public Health as an important public health issue, while the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales has made tackling the problem a priority.

The Welsh Government already has a set of indicators to check its progress towards the achieving its ‘well-being goals’ one of which is to monitor the ‘percentage of people who are lonely’.

The Committee will be looking at this complex subject and the  wide range of services which can have an impact on it such as health, social care and community services, transport and even internet access.

Chair of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Dai Lloyd AM:

“Isolation and loneliness can affect anyone,  employed or retired, living in a town, city or the countryside.

We already know the issues affect a high number of older people. Tackling the problem could  both help individuals feel better and could also  mean less demand on our health and social care services.

If you or someone you know is, or has been, affected by issues of loneliness or isolation, or you are involved in work to support them, then we would like to hear about your experiences and what ideas you think could help.”

If you would like to contribute to the inquiry you can find more information, including how, on the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee pages on the National Assembly’s website.

The Committee will be holding a Facebook Live session on 25/01 at 17.00 to talk more about the inquiry and invite people to take part.

You can also keep up to date with what the Committee are doing via their Twitter account – @SeneddHealth.

Member Bills: How would you change the law?

There are two draws I’m particularly looking forward to at the moment: the first Member Bill ballot of the Fifth Assembly, and the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw. Before joining the National Assembly for Wales, I worked in Japan for two years, so I can confidently predict that the World Cup is going to be amazing.

Anyway- back to Member Bills. Most laws in Wales are proposed by the Welsh Government. But if an individual Member wins the Member Bill ballot (it’s a kind of raffle draw), they get an opportunity to introduce their own proposed law.

Anyone can suggest an idea to an Assembly Member about a proposal for a law. You have 5 Assembly Members: do you know who they are? Find out more about your Assembly Members.

The Assembly Member who wins the ballot will then be able to call for other Members to support their idea, through a vote. If their idea is supported, the Ballot winner will have 13 months in which to develop their proposed law, and present it to the Assembly for scrutiny and amendment.

During this process, the Ballot winner will normally be supported by a small team of people- including me- to develop their proposed law. We help to provide procedural, research and legal advice.

On 25 January 2017, we’ll find out which Member will be drawn in the ballot and have the opportunity to propose a new law, which could affect the lives of millions of people across Wales. Find out more about Member Bills.

By Tom Jackson, Clerk, Scrutiny Support Team

Culture, Welsh Language and Communications – Public decides on future committee inquiry

Over the last couple of months, the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee at the National Assembly for Wales has asked the people of Wales to decide what issues they should be investigating.

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Although Assembly committees regularly involve the public in its work, and have done so using a variety of techniques (including events, focus groups, web-chats, surveys, video interviews, workshops, and crowdsourcing apps), this is the first time an Assembly committee has asked the people of Wales to decide a future committee inquiry.

How they sourced ideas

The chair of the Committee, Bethan Jenkins AM sat down with James Williams from BBC Wales to talk about the newly formed committee on Facebook live, the first time the National Assembly had ever done so. Bethan encouraged people to get in touch, and make suggestions for priority areas.

The Committee invited people to suggest ideas on Facebook, Twitter and by e-mail, and also held an event at the National Eisteddfod to continue the conversation.

What people said

A number of suggestions were received from a mix of organisations, groups and individuals, which were then grouped and presented to the Committee.  The members then cross referenced this public list with the priority areas they had identified in a planning session they had held.

There was a lot of common ground between the Committee members’ priority areas and the public list, including:

  • how the ambition of achieving a million Welsh speakers can be achieved
  • concern at the continuing decline of local media and local news journalism
  • lack of portrayal of Wales on UK broadcast networks
  • the role of Radio in Wales
  • the remit, funding and accountability of S4C

Continue reading “Culture, Welsh Language and Communications – Public decides on future committee inquiry”

Brexit in Wales – Article 50 and the High Court: What does it mean?

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On 3 November 2016, the High Court of England and Wales decided that the UK Government and the Prime Minister does not have the power to use the prerogative to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start the UK’s exit from the European Union without the consent of Parliament.

What are the prerogative powers?

The UK’s institutions are defined and function on the principle of the “separation of powers”: the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.

  • The executive is made up of the Crown and the Government (which includes the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers). Their job is to propose laws and make policies;
  • The legislature is made up of Parliament and all Members who are not a part of the UK Government. Their job is to make sure that the UK Government’s decisions are in the best interest of the UK and its people; and
  • The judiciary is made up of all the judges in the courts of law, including tribunals and magistrates courts. Senior judges are appointed by the Crown (or the Queen).

This principle of the “separation of powers” means that our Government, Parliament and Judges should be functionally independent.

The principle suggests that it’s important for all the powers to be separate to protect against one of these institutions having more control than the others – it’s about keeping them all in check and balanced.

Following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, the UK Government decided that it would trigger the process by using its own prerogative power, which means they wouldn’t need to consult Parliament in the decision-making process. Some argued that the referendum result was enough.

Why was the High Court involved?

Some people felt that by not consulting Parliament and allowing Members of Parliament a opportunity to vote, the UK Government was acting outside of its powers and not allowing Parliament to scrutinise its approach to leaving the EU.

The High Court was asked whether, as a matter of UK constitutional law, the Government is permitted to trigger Article 50 in this way without reference to Parliament.

The High Court ruled that it would be unlawful for the UK Government to trigger article 50 without an Act of Parliament. You can read the full judgment here.

The UK Government have said that they will appeal the High Court decision to the Supreme Court next month.

What are the views of the Welsh Government?

Following the High Court decision, the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones AM restated the Welsh Government’s position:

“The position of the Welsh Government has been consistent throughout – we accept the decision made by the people and will not work against the referendum result,”

“We are working hard to get the best possible exit terms for Wales. However, it is important that votes take place in all four nations to endorse the UK negotiating position.”

The National Assembly for Wales

The National Assembly for Wales’s External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee have been looking at the implications for Wales once the UK leaves the EU. From trade models and international law, the implications for agriculture to research and investment, the Committee have been seeking the views of experts to help them understand the issues Wales could face.

The Committee now want to hear your views on what should be the top priority for Wales before the formal process of exiting the EU. You can submit your views here or keep up to date by following them on Twitter @SeneddEAAL.

Concerned about the future of the BBC in Wales? Put your question to Tony Hall, the Director General of the BBC

The Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee wants to hear from you before their meeting with Tony Hall, the Director General of the BBC.  The meeting takes place on 2 November and will be streamed live on Senedd.TV. The deadline for questions is 21 October.

On Twitter you can use #AskBBC or tweet the committee @SeneddCWLC.

You can also leave a comment on the Assembly’s Facebook Page or e-mail your question to SeneddCWLC@assembly.wales.

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Who is Tony Hall and what does he do?

 Tony Hall – the Lord Hall of Birkenhead – is the 16th Director General of the BBC. The Director General is the Chief Executive Officer of the BBC, its Editor-in-Chief.

To find out more about Tony Hall and the role of the Director General you can visit the BBC’s website.

Why is he coming to the Assembly?

The Assembly’s new Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee is currently looking at the impact of the BBC Charter and what the future of BBC programming in Wales will look like.

The Committee will be covering areas including the BBC Charter Review and the recently appointed role of ‘Director of Regions and Nations’.

BBC Wales’s annual budget is in excess of £150 million and produces programming for Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, television and online services. BBC Wales also makes 10 hours a week of TV for S4C.

In recent years the amount of English language content produced specifically for Wales has declined.

A message from Bethan Jenkins AM, Chair of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee:

The BBC is a cornerstone of many people’s media consumption and could be about to undergo a number of significant changes under the Charter Review.

 In some ways Wales benefits greatly from the BBC through its drama village in Roath Lock where Sherlock, Doctor Who and Casualty are filmed. All world-class productions which put us firmly on the map.

 But there is a lack of programming and content specific to Wales and recent budget cuts are deeply concerning

 So we will be asking the Director General what he thinks the BBC in Wales will look like in the future.

What is a committee?

 A committee is made up of a small group of Assembly Members from different parties who look at particular issues in more detail. They often seek input from external expert advisors and members of the community before making decisions.

Committees recommend ways in which (for example) government policies could be more robust and its expenditure more effective, efficient and economical. Committees engage proactively and innovatively with individuals and organisations which can articulate the voice and experience of the people of Wales.

Full list of National Assembly for Wales committees

Culture, Welsh Language and Communications – Engagement firsts at the National Assembly for Wales

For the first time, the Assembly has established a Committee with specific responsibility for communications, culture, the arts, the historic environment, broadcasting and the media.

These issues are the things that enrich our lives, that fashion and explain our narrative as a nation, that are the soul of our unique culture and heritage, and help define what it is to be Welsh.

The new Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee is a group of eight Assembly Members from across Wales, who represent the five political parties which make up the Assembly. Over the summer, the Committee provided a variety of opportunities for people to get in touch and tell us what they thought the Committee should prioritise.

Committee Members

Back in July, the Assembly used Facebook Live for the very first time. Over 2,700 people watched Chair of the Committee, Bethan Jenkins AM talk about her hopes for the Committee. We had lots of ideas through the Facebook Live feed, on Twitter, and by e-mail.

The Committee also held an event at the Eisteddfod where people in attendance put forward their ideas and prioritise. One of those suggestions was that the Committee should look at Welsh Language usage among young people, considering the announcement the First Minister and the Minister for Life Long Learning and Welsh Language made about the aim of growing the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050.

With a huge thank you to everyone who took the time to get in touch, this is what you told us were your priorities…

Welsh language

  • How the WG aim to increase the number of Welsh speakers to one million by 2050, including Welsh language usage among young people
  • Welsh language in secondary education, including a proposal to get rid of the concept of second language education and replace it with one continuum of Welsh learning
  • Encouraging people to carry on using the Welsh language after they leave school
  • Bilingual support for deaf and hard of hearing people

Culture

  • Funding for and access to music education
  • A strategy to develop the music industry in Wales
  • Fees and terms for the visual and applied arts
  • Access to and funding of the arts at a grassroots and local level
  • How Wales supports its traditional and unique cultural arts
  • Progression of Expert Review into Local Museums report
  • The Wales brand

Heritage

  • Preserving local heritage in Wales
  • Cultural and historical education in Wales

Communications

  • What can the Welsh Government do to tackle the democratic deficit in Wales
  • The state of local journalism in Wales
  • Welsh media representation on a UK level
  • Funding for the Welsh media
  • The implications of the BBC Charter on S4C
  • Citizen participation and access to political information

The Committee took these suggestions into consideration whilst planning the big issues they wanted to tackle over the next 5 years. There was a lot of common ground between the suggestions the Committee received and some of the Committees priorities, including:

  • how the ambition of achieving a million Welsh speakers can be achieved
  • concern at the continuing decline of local media and local news journalism
  • lack of portrayal of Wales on UK broadcast networks
  • the role of Radio in Wales
  • the remit, funding and accountability of S4C

We have grouped the remaining ideas together, and want the public to decide which issue you think the Committee should investigate in the next couple of months, once the Committee has completed its work on the Welsh language strategy. This is the first time an Assembly Committee will have given the public the ability to so directly decide what its focus should be.

Get involved by completing and sharing this survey.

This is not to say that we will ignore all but the most popular issue. All of these responses will help us decide our priorities further down the line, and we intend to follow-up all of these areas, be that through a formal inquiry, by asking questions to Ministers or by seeking plenary debates.
The Committee is committed to engaging the range of individuals, groups, businesses and organisations in its work, and hope that by providing opportunities to directly affect the Committees work that it effectively represents the interest of Wales and its people.
More about the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee.

#AskLlywydd – The Presiding Officer, Elin Jones AM, answers your questions

The Presiding Officer, Elin Jones AM, will be at the National Eisteddfod on 2 August in conversation with ITV Wales journalist Catrin Hâf Jones, talking about the unique challenges and opportunities she faces in the Fifth Assembly. The Presiding Officer will also answer questions from the audience and submitted through social media.

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Questions can be sent in advance or on the day, either by using #AskLlywydd  / #HoliLlywydd on Twitter, or by posting on the Assembly’s Facebook pages, where the session will be streamed live from 11:00am.

How do I watch?

If you are at the Eisteddfod you will be able to watch the interview live from 11:00am in the Societies 1 pavilion. If you are not able to attend we will be streaming the interview live in both English and Welsh to our Facebook accounts:

Assembly Wales Facebook

Cynylliad Cymru Facebook

You will also be able to watch the full interview on Senedd.tv after the event, along with transcripts.

How do I submit a question?

You can submit your questions for the Presiding Officer in a number of ways:

  • On Twitter – Follow @AssemblyWales on Twitter and reply to any tweets relating to this topic, or use the hashtag #AskLlywydd. Also feel free to Direct Message us if you’d like it to be confidential.
  • On Facebook – Like the Assembly’s Facebook Page and leave a comment on a relevant status. If you can’t see a relevant status then leave a comment on the page with the hashtag #AskLlywydd.
  • E-Mail – You can send your questions by e-mail to: communications@assembly.wales 
  • On Instagram – If you can express your views in a creative visual way we’d love to see it. Tag our Senedd Instagram account within your picture or just use the hashtag #AskLlywydd. Alternatively you can leave a comment on any one of our Instagram posts again with the hashtag #AskLlywydd
  • On YouTube – Why not film yourself asking your question and then send us the link through any of the channels above?
  • Comments – Leave a comment on this blog post right now!

Need some ideas?

The Assembly for Wales can make laws in 21 devolved areas:

  • Agriculture, Forestry, Animals, Plants and Rural Development
  • Ancient Monuments and Historic Buildings
  • Culture
  • Economic Development
  • Education and Training
  • Environment
  • Fire and Rescue Services and Fire Safety
  • Food
  • Health
  • Highways and Transport
  • Housing
  • Local government
  • National Assembly for Wales
  • Public Administration
  • Social Welfare
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Taxation
  • Tourism
  • Town and Country Planning
  • Water and Flood Defence
  • Welsh Language

Here are some further links that you may also find helpful:

Key Issues for the Fifth Assembly – This publication sets out a selection of issues likely to matter in the Fifth Assembly, from the steel industry to the future of Welsh law-making.

Wales and the EU: What does the vote to leave the EU mean for Wales? – Our Research Service explains what could happen after the Leave vote in Wales.

New Assembly Commission launches strategy for Fifth Assembly – News article about the new strategy for the fifth Assembly.

The Role of the Presiding Officer – Information about the role of the Presiding officer.

 More about Elin Jones AM, Presiding Officer

Elin Jones AM is the current Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales.

The Presiding Officer is the highest authority in the Assembly and chairs the meeting of all 60 Assembly Members in Plenary, remaining politically impartial at all times.

The Presiding Officer also plays an active role in representing the Assembly and Wales’s interests on a national, UK and international stage. They chair the Assembly Commission, which makes sure that Assembly Members have the staff and resources they need to carry out their roles effectively for the people of Wales.

The key functions of the Presiding Officer are:

  • to chair Plenary meetings;
  • to determine questions as to the interpretation or application of Standing Orders;
  • to represent the Assembly in exchanges with any other bodies, whether within or outside the United Kingdom, in relation to matters affecting the Assembly.

See also:

Llywydd gives evidence to Assembly Committee – Changes the Presiding Officer would like to make to the Wales Bill.

Elin Jones lays out what she wants to achieve as Presiding Officer of the National Assembly – An interview with WalesOnline on what the Presiding Officer wants to achieve in her role over the next five years.

What happens next?

Once all your questions have been collected, a few will be selected and answered on the day by the Presiding Officer.

We will collate your questions and pass them to Catrin Hâf Jones before the interview. She will then incorporate them into her conversation with Elin Jones AM, Presiding Officer. If you’re at the Eisteddfod you can come and watch the interview in person, or watch live via our Facebook pages. Afterwards, the conversation will be available online on Senedd.TV. We’ll let you know if your question was answered.

The Presiding Officer in conversation with Catrin Hâf Jones will take place on 2 August at 11:00am at the National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny.

We look forward to hearing your views!

If you are at the Eisteddfod you will be able to watch the interview live from 11:00am in the Societies 1 pavilion. If you are not able to attend we will be streaming the interview live in both English and Welsh to our Facebook accounts:

Assembly Wales Facebook

Cynylliad Cymru Facebook

You will also be able to watch the full interview on Senedd.tv after the event, along with transcripts.

View this post in Welsh