2. Will the Commissioner make a statement on the methods of communication employed by the Assembly to reach out to the Welsh public? OAQ51973

The Commission engages with the people of Wales in many different ways. We talk to people online, communicate via print and meet with them at events and workshops to inspire and encourage them to participate in Assembly work. Last year, we talked to around 50,000 people in schools, colleges, youth groups, community groups and events around the country.

Thank you for that answer. With all due respect to the other Members who have tabled questions today, the type of questions we ask of the Commission are quite limited and, it seems to me, very inwardly focused about internal Commission matters, which will, no doubt, leave many members of the public cold. I note the consultation on creating a Parliament for Wales has recently closed, and that only four public meetings were held across the country. Lots of people would not have even been aware of these meetings, and of those who were, many—those working, caring or looking after children—would not have been able to make those sessions. I know there were other ways of attempting to collect opinions, but they do feel like the same old to me. Considering the advancement of technology, consultation and information-gathering methods, is the Commission going to seek to push boundaries in terms of its engagement methods and how does it evaluate its current methods? How do we know it's working? 

Please don't feel limited at all in asking questions of me, Mandy Jones. I welcome the question you've asked. We held four public meetings to discuss the electoral reform consultation throughout Wales. I attended all of the meetings, and they were reasonably well attended, especially the last one I attended, which was in Wrexham in your region, and it was a lively Friday night in Wrexham. I enjoyed myself immensely and learnt a lot from the people of that area about their view on electoral reform and all other interesting matters as well. 

But you raise very important points about the need to be innovative at all times in how we do our consultation. We're not able to hold meetings in every single village hall in Wales to discuss any matter—neither us as a Commission nor the Welsh Government nor anybody—but we need to continually think and question ourselves, as you've raised this question today, on how we do our communicating with the people of Wales and allow them to express their views to us more directly, more vigorously and in every part of Wales. That's a challenge to me and a challenge to all of us, as elected Members, here representing communities throughout Wales, and it's where we want to improve all the time.

Diolch. The next two questions will be answered by Commissioner Caroline Jones. Question 3—Simon Thomas.