4. What measures are in place to promote virtual access to Senedd proceedings by the general public? OQ55921

Whilst the public can't access meetings at the moment, we've made every effort to ensure the work of the Senedd is more accessible than ever via other means. Senedd proceedings are televised and are promoted across a range of channels. We provide a stream to news outlets, and First Minister's questions is often broadcast on BBC2 Wales and BBC Parliament. We also stream FMQs live on the Senedd's Twitter accounts, and ensure that footage of FMQs can be watched with signing on the following day. The Members' Research Service continues to provide high-quality blogs to explain key issues in upcoming Senedd debates, in order to make the debates more accessible, and Commission staff have been developing new ways to engage virtually with the public. This includes new virtual tours of the building, virtual exhibitions, and online introduction to the Senedd sessions, which were launched earlier this month.

I thank the Llywydd for that answer, and I commend the innovation, which I think it's fair to say we've had throughout the period of Welsh devolution, and certainly in this fifth Senedd. And I do urge that we build on this success, because we all want, as we've heard in previous answers, active citizenship. And it seems to me that, as well as watching our proceedings, there are more opportunities by virtual means to allow citizens to take part to some extent in a manner that is not, perhaps, as intimidating as turning up and giving evidence in front, formally, of a committee, for instance. And there's a lot we've done, but in the sixth Senedd, there's probably a lot more we could do, and I would commend whoever is in charge then to look at this very carefully. 

Well, most definitely, I think that the experience of the last six months, both in terms of how we've undertaken our sessions here as a Chamber, Senedd proceedings, but most importantly in the work of our committees, has enabled the use of a virtual setting to enable a wider, more diverse array, a more geographically dispersed array, of witnesses and evidence sessions, and has possibly broken down some of those both physical and other kind of barriers that people have to giving evidence or taking part in our committee proceedings. So I very much hope, and in my discussions with the Chairs' Forum, we've all been very aware of the very many positive experiences that we've had in a more virtual setting over the past six months, and we must not lose sight of those as we think about how we construct the business for the next Senedd.