2. What action is the Commission taking to reduce energy consumption in the Senedd estate’s buildings? OQ57959

I thank the Member, Jenny Rathbone MS, for asking this question, because it's something that I'm quite often speaking to people working within our Commission about. The Senedd has a long history of reducing energy consumption, with our energy emissions footprint reducing by more than 50 per cent across our previous two carbon strategies. Work has already begun on the actions detailed in the Senedd's new carbon neutral strategy, which commits to investment and improvements to the estate. Energy efficiency measures and behavioural change, combined with infrastructure improvements and renewables, all form part of our plans to be net carbon neutral by 2030. Projects completed this year include more energy-efficient LED lighting for office areas, as well as increasing the zoning of the heating areas of Tŷ Hywel for future heating savings in line with occupancy. We are starting to consider the feasibility of solar PV on the estate and we've also committed to joining the Cardiff heat network, which will remove a major component of the estate's heating footprint.

Thank you. These behavioural measures need to start with the way that the electrical lighting system is set up. For example, my colleague Mike Hedges, the lights are permanently on in his office, whereas it took a huge effort on my part to get the business people in the Senedd to change the lighting system so that it didn't automatically come on. You don't need the light on in a south-facing office if the sun is shining. If we expect other people to take measures to reduce their energy for carbon-saving reasons, we need to ensure that our buildings function appropriately. So, I would like to scrutinise this action plan that the Commission says it's got in order to really drive down the carbon emissions, so that we can be exemplary, rather than laggards, in this important measure.

I take your point, and actually, I agree with it, to a point. I have to say, when I had a north-facing office during last term, with the new mechanisms that came in to save energy, we were having problems with our office lights, and we had to move around a lot to get the office lights to come on. I'm now in a south-facing office, where we get lots of sun, and I've got to be honest, I don't have an issue, they seem to work quite well automatically. But as we do move towards summer, we will also be encouraging building users to play their part by opening windows where possible for natural ventilation and temperature control before switching on air conditioning. Throughout the pandemic, small numbers of staff distributed throughout the building has meant that energy use hasn't been as well minimised as it could've been, and these are all issues that I have raised with the director.

Let me reassure you that energy use across the Senedd estate has reduced over the pandemic. But we need to be very keen. On the points you make about the plan, I think you'll be quite reassured when you actually do scrutinise that plan. It's something that I have done, and all I would say is that it's something that we're constantly—. I was in the building the other week and the corridors, I felt, were overwarm. These are all issues that I raise, but it's important that each and every one of us as Members—and I'm glad you've highlighted this today—. It falls on us all as Members, not just as Commissioners, to play our part in ensuring that we're not wasting energy in any sense of the word. Thanks.

Back to question 1. This question will be answered by Ken Skates, and it's to be asked by Heledd Fychan.