3. What assessment has the Commission made of its response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic? OQ56444

The Commission has supported the Senedd, its committees and Members to discharge their functions during the pandemic, and the Commission regularly reviews responses to issues as they arise and to learn lessons for the future. This includes feedback from Members, regular staff surveys and governance and risk reviews.

Thank you, Llywydd. I just would like to take a moment to place on record my thanks to the Commission staff for how they've supported Members of the Senedd during the pandemic, and, of course, to MS support staff, who I know have gone above and beyond to help constituents deal with a range of urgent and pressing queries. What assessment has the Commission made of the impact of the pandemic on our superb staff over the last year?

Thank you for making sure that our staff know—Commission staff and those staff who work for us as political representatives—that you and, hopefully, all of us are very appreciative of the innovative work that's gone on to respond to the pandemic, to enable this Parliament to continue its work and to enable us as elected Members from all across Wales to provide services and information to our electors. As I said in my previous answer, the Commission does look to engage with staff to learn from their experiences and to think about how the lessons that we've learned over the past year can carry on into the future and enable a more flexible means of working, and that we don't lose sight, as we move out of this pandemic, hopefully, of the many good ways of working that we've probably experienced over the past few months. So, I'm really grateful for your thanks, but also for giving me the opportunity in my last questions as a Llywydd to thank the staff of the Commission, all the staff who work for our contractors and our political party staff. Everybody has been excellent and enabled this Parliament, this Senedd, to carry on its work in the most challenging of circumstances, and to do that on behalf of the people of Wales.

Thank you. Question 4 is to be answered by Joyce Watson, and it's question 4, Bethan Sayed.