Part of 3. Questions to the Senedd Commission – in the Senedd at 3:32 pm on 13 January 2021.
Thank you for the question. And of course, the first thing to say is that moving virtual is not necessarily a means of saving money; the designing of virtual experiences can be significant in its initial investment. And as you've alluded to, Janet Finch-Saunders, there are of course changes that have had to be made to the responsibilities of work, and many of the people who previously worked in face-to-face engagement have done, and you acknowledged that there has been a considerable programme of secondment to other areas of greater pressure within the Commission work.
The Commission, in its early days of the fifth Senedd, set out as one of its main priorities to refocus much of our work towards public engagement and ensure that the people of Wales were aware of as much of our activity as possible. I think we've made strides towards that. I think our committees, in particular, have made significant strides on that. You chair the Petitions Committee, Janet Finch-Saunders, and the engagement with our Petitions Committee, I would say, has been significantly increased in the last few years, leading up to the pandemic, and during the pandemic. And hopefully you've been able to see that some of the work that those people working in this area have done has proved to be successful in encouraging more people in Wales to interact with us as a Senedd. I wouldn't want to do less public engagement work in the next Senedd. I want the people of Wales to be more aware, not less aware, of what we're doing here on their behalf. But, as you say, Janet, as always, we need to do so with a view to the expenditure that's placed on that activity, and to ensure that we are always reaching for as best value for money as possible.