North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has today called for more to be done to spread wider understanding of the Welsh Parliament to “the parts of the world of Wales where the democratic deficit is most acute”.
Speaking in today’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood expressed concern that there are people in Wales who still do not know what the Welsh Parliament does, and who don’t understand the separation between the Welsh Parliament and the Welsh Government, or when the Welsh Government rather than the UK Government should be held accountable.
During a question to the Senedd/Welsh Parliament Commission, Mr Isherwood asked what action it is taking to promote the Welsh Parliament to the world, and stressed that the Welsh Parliament also needs to be promoted in Wales itself.
He said:
“In addition to promoting the Welsh Parliament to the wider world, there’s still a need to promote this Parliament within the world of Wales itself. With fewer than half the electorate voting for anyone in the 2021 Welsh General Election, it’s clear that the democratic deficit is still alive and kicking, with many still not understanding where the decisions are taken, who is responsible, and how much power the Welsh Government actually has over their lives.
“Although the Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament Customer Services Team do a great job reaching out to engaged schools and community groups, and hosting visits to the Senedd, I’m still contacted daily by people who don’t understand the separation between the Welsh Parliament and the Welsh Government, or when the Welsh Government, rather than the UK Government, should be held accountable. Representative democracy requires every Government to know that it is on probation and can be kicked out, and every Parliament to be seen to be holding their Government to account.
“What action is the Commission therefore taking to spread wider understanding of the Welsh Parliament to the parts of the world of Wales where the democratic deficit is most acute?”
Responding, the Llywydd, Elin Jones MS, said:
“I would love to spend more money, have more people involved in directly engaging with the people of Wales on the work that we do here. But we live within the resources that we have, and we are continually working with our committees and with individual Members to see how we can extend the engagement work that our committees do, in particular with the real-life experiences of people in Wales.
“We are where we are with how our Senedd is covered by both press and media, and I could go on for quite a long time, as you could, on the lack of coverage generally for Welsh politics in the media and press that the people of Wales read and listen to. But our greatest champions in all of this are us as 60 Members in the work that we do both in our constituencies and regions, and also in how we engage with people in our constituencies and regions and make the issues that are important to them important to Welsh Government here, and that we scrutinise the actions of Welsh Government in improving the lives of the people of Wales.”