4. Will the Commission make a statement on how it encourages the public's participation in Senedd committees? OQ57792

Thank you very much for the question. Encouraging engagement with committees is a very important element of the Senedd's engagement work, to ensure, of course, that the public's view is reflected in our discussions. During the pandemic, we reached new audiences through a virtual engagement programme, encompassing online focus groups and other online events, and as we move back to the post-pandemic world, we are developing plans to ensure that our online engagement work complements our traditional face-to-face engagement work, and work is ongoing now to find new ways of ensuring a wider range and diversity of people and groups that we engage with to ensure that the lived experiences of people from all parts of Wales are at the heart of our work.

Diolch yn fawr, Commissioner, for that answer. I'm grateful for the work the Commission has done during the pandemic and what it continues to do. If I may, Deputy Presiding Officer, I'll declare an interest at this point as the Chair of the Senedd Petitions Committee, and as the Chair of the Petitions Committee, I want the people of Wales to see it as their committee; they shape our agendas with their petitions and their signatures, and I want everyone to know it and consider signing or submitting a petition to our Senedd.

But, to do that, they do need to understand the areas that the committee covers and what is a matter for elsewhere. I believe we can do this by promoting the success of previous petitions we've had in our Senedd, not just in this Senedd, but, of course, in previous Senedds as well. I have an idea that I think we could use to champion this, and that includes launching a petition of the year award, led by the committee and this Senedd. Will the Commission look at supporting me with this idea and see how we can work together to launch a petition of the year award in this Senedd? 

Thank you very much for that idea. Certainly, we do need always to be trying to innovate in the way that we engage with people. The Petitions Committee, of course, is a committee that is driven by that direct engagement with the people of Wales. I know that Jack, in his role as Chair of the Petitions Committee, has been involved in one particularly successful campaign recently, and as a result of the work of the social media team with Rhian Mannings, following her petition seeking assistance for families who have lost children and young people suddenly and unexpectedly, I think that there have been over 20,000 Twitter impressions, over 2,300 Facebook responses, and that shows that a petition that captures people's imaginations, with efficient and effective engagement work around it, can genuinely influence the policy-making process. So, we have an idea here of how to give a further boost to the petitions process. The idea of an award is one that deserves further consideration and is a good idea. I will ensure that there will be a conversation between Jack and the engagement team to see how we can pursue such an idea.

Question 5 is to be answered by Ken Skates, and asked by Peter Fox.