2. Will the Commission make a statement on work undertaken to promote access and public understanding regarding the work of the Assembly? OAQ(5)0007(AC)[W]

The Commission is committed to engaging with all the people of Wales, and championing the Assembly is one of our key priorities. We approved a new public engagement strategy in January, which includes two key initiatives, namely the establishment of a new youth parliament for Wales and the delivery of the recommendations of the digital news and information taskforce, due to report this term.

Thank you, Llywydd, for that answer. It may be too late for some of the people I met in the Nefyn show on Monday who still didn’t understand the difference between the Assembly and the Government, but with the younger generation and with young people, it’s extremely important that they see the work that we do here as an Assembly. Therefore, I welcome the fact that Commission staff were at the show on Monday, promoting the consultation that is open now on the youth parliament for Wales. So, will the Llywydd outline more of the objectives of the establishment of such a parliament, and particularly how such a parliament can represent young people in our various different areas and constituencies in Wales?

May I thank the Member for the question, which is also timely as it so happens, as we as a Commission and an Assembly have started the consultation with the people of Wales—specifically the young people of Wales—on how we establish and what kind of youth parliament we wish to establish here, to run concurrently with our Assembly? We started that consultation at Ysgol Bro Pedr last week. I’m very pleased that the Nefyn show was also an opportunity to engage directly with young people. That consultation will continue until the end of June. Therefore, I urge every Assembly Member present to ensure that young people in your constituencies and in your regions participate, sharing their views on what kind of youth senedd or parliament we wish to see here in Wales. It’s the young people of Wales who asked us as Assembly Members to establish a youth parliament here in the first place. We want them to feel ownership of that youth parliament from the very beginning, and I hope that, as we move forward listening to their views, and in establishing that youth parliament, we will be able to do that through the autumn, and that our youth parliament here in Wales will be established for the first time at the beginning of 2018.

Thank you very much. Diolch.