<p>A Child-friendly Assembly</p>

Part of 2. 2. Questions to the Assembly Commission – in the Senedd at 2:20 pm on 3 May 2017.

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Photo of Julie Morgan Julie Morgan Labour 2:20, 3 May 2017

I thank Joyce Watson for that response. My reason for asking this question is prompted by the apparent change of use of the parent and child suite to a meeting room. And when I’m talking, I'm talking about small children now, because I think the school-age children who come here in groups have a fantastic service in this Assembly. But the parent and child suite never really was a parent and child suite, because there never was anything in there for children, so it was a bit of a misnomer. But I think we do have an issue if families come here; if mothers want to breastfeed and want privacy, they do need somewhere comfortable and private where they can do that, and I do not think that what is available at the moment, which I assume is the child-changing facility, is suitable. And there isn’t a proper chair for mothers to breastfeed, which can be obtained very easily. So, I’m really asking if we could reassess all this and see how we can make this a child-friendly place, because we unfortunately don’t have a crèche for visiting parents, which is a big blow, really, because, you know, when people come to give evidence to committees, or when they make visits, it would be good if we could have a room, even if we can’t manage a crèche, where there are some playthings for children, some games. I’m sad to say I think a lot of that is sadly lacking in this Assembly building, so I would ask you if you could very seriously look at a proper chair for breastfeeding, somewhere private and comfortable, facilities with games for small children, and something to make it much more of a family-friendly place.