Annual Report and Statement of Accounts of the Assembly Commission: 2007-08
This is a Flash Object
3. Engagement with Others
Opening of the Third Assembly
A programme of events to mark the opening of the Third Assembly took place on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 June which began with a service of celebration at St David’s Metropolitan Cathedral in Cardiff’s city centre.
The opening of the Third Assembly was celebrated formally on Tuesday 5 June at the Senedd in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, Their Royal Highnesses The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. The arrival of the Royal Party was preceded by a procession of Assembly Members, the First Minister and his Cabinet and representatives of the judiciary.
Invited guests attending the ceremony included representatives from local government in Wales; speakers of linked UK, Commonwealth and European regional parliaments; diplomats; and an all Wales element of senior citizens and youth representatives from each Unitary Authority. Military ceremonial support was provided to mark the arrival of the Royal Party outside the Senedd by the Band of the Royal Marines and HMS Exeter followed by a short ceremony in the Siambr in which Her Majesty The Queen delivered an address and signed a commemorative parchment to mark her visit. The National Youth Symphony of Wales and the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Schools’ Choir performed ‘Mae Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’ as the Royal Party departed. Assembly Members and invited guests joined the Royal Party afterwards for a luncheon held in the Main Hall of the National Museum.
European and International
The National Assembly has continued its active programme of external relations to ensure that we learn from or influence other institutions or legislatures, develop relationships and enhance Wales’ position beyond our borders. As our constitution develops, we recognise the importance of these links and we have continued to participate in inter-parliamentary activities in Europe and the Commonwealth.
During the year, we were delighted to welcome and provide programmes at the Assembly for parliamentary delegations from the Brussels Capital Region Parliament, the Kwa Zulu Natal Provincial Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the St Helena Legislative Council, the Parliament of South Africa, the Parliament of Sri Lanka and Western Australia Parliament. Inter-Parliamentary Union delegations were received from the sovereign parliaments of Algeria, Brazil and Cuba.
As part of a three day visit to Wales at the end of January, Margaret Wallström European Commissioner for Communications and Inter-Institutional Relations addressed a special Committee of the Whole Assembly in the Senedd Siambr before engaging in a debate with Assembly Members. This was the first time that a committee of the whole Assembly had been convened.
In October 2007 the Deputy Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, represented the National Assembly at the 10th Conference of Presidents of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) in Berlin. We continued to participate in meetings of the British Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body (BIIBP) which brings together Members of Parliaments from the islands of Britain to discuss and report on matter of common interest. The Deputy Presiding Officer led delegations attending the Body’s 35th Plenary Conference in Chipping Norton from 25-27 November.
Full Members:
Rosemary Butler AM, Deputy Presiding Officer
Alun Cairns AM
Michael German AM
Dai Lloyd AM
Joyce Watson AM
Associate Members:
Alun Davies AM
Bethan Jenkins AM
Darren Millar AM
Jenny Randerson AM
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
The Wales Branch of the CPA links the National Assembly in a Commonwealth-wide association of legislatures committed to the promotion of democracy world-wide. All Assembly Members are members of the Wales Branch of the CPA but the Branch Executive Committee comprised:
Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM, Presiding Officer - President
Rosemary Butler AM, Deputy Presiding Officer - Vice President
Alun Cairns AM - Branch Chair (until 4 December 2007)
Janet Ryder AM (from 24 October 2007)
and Branch Chair (from 4 December 2007)
John Griffiths AM (until 24 October)
Jeff Cuthbert AM (from 24 October 2007)
Elin Jones AM (until 24 October)
Michael German AM
Branch Secretary: Claire Clancy
Branch Secretariat: Peter Kellam
During the year, delegations from the Branch attended the 38th British Islands and Mediterranean Region conference in Northern Ireland and the 53rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in New Delhi, India. Individual Members also attended the CPA seminars on parliamentary procedure in Edinburgh and climate change in Westminster.
The Branch continued its sustained programme of strengthening parliamentary support to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Lesotho. In October 2007 a delegation visited Lesotho to deliver a two day training programme for the chairs and clerks of the National Assembly’s recently established portfolio committees. In March 2008 further support was provided to the operation of parliamentary scrutiny committees in Lesotho when the Branch provided a week’s programme in Wales for two Members and the Clerk of the Senate’s Committee on HIV/AIDS.
Commonwealth Day was celebrated at the Senedd on Tuesday 10 March with an event for schools from across Wales on the theme ‘The Environment, Our Future’. The day’s programme included a Members’ plenary debate on Wales’ links with the Commonwealth.
Engaging with you
The Education Service provided both an in-bound and outreach programme of structured visits during the year. The visits aim to enhance young people’s understanding of the National Assembly for Wales and promote engagement and participation in the democratic process by young people of all ages. Our outreach team delivered presentations and activities in schools and colleges across Wales and our education team and ICT specialists were preparing the final stages and testing the ICT and voting systems for our exciting new education suite “Siambr Hywel”, a state of the art, interactive learning centre, to include Europe’s first dedicated youth debating chamber in readiness for its launch in April 2008. Based in the former debating chamber, it is a flagship example of how the Assembly can proactively engage with young people using the latest technology.
During the year the education service delivered presentations and workshops to 597 schools and colleges, around one third of all such institutions in Wales reaching an audience of 16,692 pupils. We received 350 pre-booked educational visits to the Senedd while 247 schools and colleges from the North Wales and Mid & West Wales Regions received presentations through our outreach programme.
The Marketing and Events team focused on increasing awareness and understanding of the National Assembly, our new powers and promoting the opportunity for participation in the democratic process. Our attendance at national events:
- The Urdd Eisteddfod, Carmarthen;
- Llangollen International Eisteddfod;
- The Royal Welsh Show and
- The National Eisteddfod, Flintshire.
generated much interest as we promoted the changes introduced by the Government of Wales Act 2006. We held numerous activities to promote the theme and people’s understanding of it which included musical workshops, translation workshops, access to our new website and “Hawl i Holi” – a question time panel which encouraged visitors to question Assembly Members about topical issues.
The Visitor Relations team played a large part in achieving the Assembly’s goal of promoting and widening engagement in devolution by communicating the powers and procedures of the National Assembly for Wales to our visitors. Assembly Members were supported by providing informative tours of the Assembly for their constituents and encouraging greater understanding and participation in Welsh democracy and its relevance to our citizens. During the period of the report we welcomed a total of 183,003 people to the Senedd. This total included 544 pre-booked group tours which consisted of 10,181 people with a further 8,533 visitors receiving an ad hoc tour or presentation. We welcomed 55,453 visitors to the Pierhead and provided visitor passes for 31,810 people to our offices in Ty Hywel.
ICT & Broadcasting
A brand new website www.assemblywales.org was launched in May 2007 to coincide with the start of the Third Assembly. Designed to encourage engagement between the people of Wales, stakeholders and the National Assembly by enhancing democratic engagement and communication between voters and their elected representatives, it also presents the work of the National Assembly for Wales in the most accessible, timely and efficient way. Some of the fully bilingual features include:
An advanced search for Assembly Members, including an interactive map, full and partial post code search, and options such as name, role, constituency, region and political party;
A dynamic calendar, detailing all Assembly activities including Plenary and Committee Meetings. The Calendar automatically compiles a list of papers for each meeting as they are published.
A subscription facility which registered users can use to subscribe to certain pages of the website in which they are interested. By selecting the briefcase icon at the bottom of web pages, subscribers receive a daily e-mail notifying them of any new published items;
Online discussion forums, allowing registered users to post comments and express their opinions on topics such as presumed consent for organ donation;
An online poll facility allowing users to vote on questions and statements relating to certain issues, which in turn encourages debates on the forums;
A range of electronic forms, which allow the public to email an Assembly Member, request visits to the Senedd to view Plenary and Committee meetings, and to contact the Assembly with a general query;
The ability to post video content on the site, including biographies of Assembly Members.
Also developed during the year was a new e-petitions section, which allows people to submit petitions and sign open petitions. We were delighted when our website won a medal at the 2007 British Computer Society (BCS) Awards.
Webcasting
A new webcasting service, www.senedd.tv, was designed and developed during the year, and launched as a test site for internal and external users. Looking forward, it will offer users the choice of three streaming levels depending on their internet connection and, for the first time, an audio only feed of proceedings available for all live and archive meetings. Archived meetings will have links which guide viewers directly to the start of each agenda item within each meeting, and there is also a slide bar and timer to guide viewers to an exact point within a meeting. Users can search Plenary and Committee meetings by keyword, date of meeting, Assembly Member and item discussed.
