Public Affairs Cymru response to switching to fortnightly Senedd Committee meetings, July 2021
Cutting Committee meeting frequency will reduce the voice of Wales at large.
Public Affairs Cymru has expressed serious concern about the reduction of Senedd Committee meetings agreed by the Senedd’s Business Committee. This decision was seemingly taken without external consultation and to many will only have come to light when highlighted by Alun Davies MS.
Committees serve both to scrutinise the work of Welsh Government and also to expose all MSs to new ideas from specialists in their field. Slashing the number of meetings each Committee holds will reduce both constructive criticism and diversity of thought in our Welsh democracy.
Public Affairs Cymru is calling for the retention of the same frequency of Committee meetings as during the fifth Senedd until the case has been made for a reduction. Such a case must include measures that mitigate against the potential reduction in scrutiny and interaction with external stakeholders. Any such changes should require comprehensive consultation with civic society.
New policy paper: ‘The Future of the Public Affairs Workplace in Wales’, June 2021
Your Public Affairs Cymru Executive Committee has published a new policy paper, “The Future of the Public Affairs Workspace in Wales“. The paper provides an overview of some of the advantages and disadvantages that public affairs professionals in Wales have realised since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. We felt it was important to emphasise and reflect on the fact that people have had different experiences of working from home depending on personal circumstances.
We’re calling on public affairs employers in Wales to encourage staff input into discussions about the future of home-based working with employees, acknowledging that there is no “one size fits all”. We’re also calling on employers to consider how potential cost savings could be used to support employee professional development and training courses.
The full paper is available here:
New Public Affairs Cymru Welsh language policy
We’ve heard that PAC members have noticed a drop-off in the use of the Welsh language in recent years. We want to put this right and have committed to doing this, as much as we can, by drawing up a Welsh language policy to guide the Executive Committee’s engagement and communication with members. You can read it in full via the link below:
Public Affairs Cymru response to the proposed Code of Conduct for Members of the Senedd
Public Affairs Cymru, on behalf of our members, has responded to the proposed new Code of Conduct for Members of the Senedd. To download the response in full, click the link below.
