2. What assessment has the Commission made of the impact of lockdown on future working practices for both Members of the Senedd and Commission staff? OQ55356

The Senedd Commission has been prioritising the work of ensuring that Senedd business continues and that it's safe to return to the estate as restrictions are relaxed. In the last meeting of the Commission, the Commissioners were provided with an update on the arrangements in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic and on preparations to ensure that it would be safe to return to the estate in due course. The Commission's assessment of these preparations is informing Business Committee decisions on the Senedd's activities.

Thank you for that answer. I'd like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all staff, both Commission and AMSS. They continue to provide the excellent levels of service we have come to expect, even in these trying times. It's clear that staff and Members of the Senedd can work effectively and remotely from home or elsewhere with all of the benefits of not fighting through traffic jams, fewer distractions, and getting more done in less time. Will the Commission now look to embed some of the lessons learnt from lockdown into ways of working for all, so that the Senedd can offer flexible, family-friendly and considerate ways of working for those that want and actually need them? Thank you.

Thank you for the question, Mandy Jones, and thank you also for your thanks for the considerable efforts by the staff of the Commission in making sure that our role as a Senedd in scrutinising Government and passing legislation has been undertaken effectively over the past few weeks. I've been bowled over by the efforts; so many of our staff have been able to achieve so much in difficult working circumstances—working from home, as we have been doing—to ensure that the work of our Senedd continues. So, my personal 'diolch' to them all as well, and I'm sure I speak on behalf of all of us in sharing your thanks, Mandy Jones for that.

And yes, we have worked with the frustrations of working remotely, but we've also seen many of the benefits of working remotely, both as a Senedd in our business and also in the work that our staff are able to do remotely. We'll learn the lessons from this and, I've no doubt, like many other aspects of life, our Senedd and the Commission will be working in different ways in the years to come because of the experiences of this time of pandemic. And there will be good that comes from this in terms of designing our future working lives.