2. What progress has the Commission made towards fulfilling the recommendations of the digital news and information taskforce's report? OQ59164

The taskforce made 27 recommendations in June 2017, based on the theme of putting the citizen at the heart of our work and creating content that is easy to understand. The report formed the foundation of the communications and engagement strategy for the sixth Senedd, which was approved by the Commission in April 2022. We now use the public's experience of services to highlight the work of committee inquiries and feature their stories on our social media platforms

Thank you for that response, Llywydd. Clearly, our democracy has progressed a great deal, even since 2016, with young people of 16 and 17 years of age now having been given the vote in Senedd elections, but it appears that other aspects have made retrograde steps—more local newspapers and journalist positions having been lost. And on the basis of a survey carried out by this group recently, the figures in terms of the understanding of our citizens of the governance arrangements of Wales are concerning to say the least: 35 per cent of respondents believed that the Conservatives had Ministers in the Welsh Government since the May 2021 election; 44 per cent believing that Plaid Cymru had Ministers; and 78 per cent of respondents couldn't name a single policy introduced in Wales over the past year, when they think of the Senedd and the Welsh Government.

Do you agree that it's crucial for the health of democracy in Wales that there is a broad understanding among the public of the basics of how democracy works, for example, how power related to their lives is exercised, what party is in Government and what are the different responsibilities of the various levels of government? What more can the Commission and Senedd do, therefore, to develop their role as a producer of content and stories, in line with one of the main demands of the taskforce report to influence the population-level understanding of the work of the Senedd and how power is exercised and who exercises that power? Thanks.

Yes, I do agree that it's important in terms of the health of our democracy that people who elect us here to the Senedd are familiar with our work and are familiar with the Senedd more generally. And it is a concern for me to hear some of the percentages that you mentioned in terms of people not being aware of the day-to-day work of the Senedd, or the work of the Senedd more broadly. That's true for Wales, and it's probably true for nearly every country in the world to a lesser or greater extent, but because we're a new democracy, that causes additional problems for us. 

As you mentioned in your contribution, how people receive their media now has changed since 2017 when the report was published. Social media offers a different opportunity for this Senedd to communicate with the people of Wales, but it also offers challenges as well. And so, in response to you, I'm very pleased as the Llywydd, and while representing the Commission, to listen to any experience or ideas that Members have within this Senedd about how we can develop, improve and refine our work in this area further. We have a responsibility as a Senedd, we all have a responsibility as individual Members of the Senedd, to communicate directly with the people of Wales, and in the spirit of what Joyce Watson said in her answer, we need to continue to improve and to think about new ways of working always in this context. And I'm very prepared to co-operate with Members on how we do that. 

Question 3, again to be answered by the Llywydd. Cefin Campbell.