There’s nothing the Senedd and its members love more than a story about themselves.
With that in mind, I don’t think there have ever been topics discussed more often yet resulting in so little action than “engagement with the Senedd” and the “democratic deficit“.
The latest to wade into the debate-as-old-as-devolution-itself was Leader of the Opposition, Andrew RT Davies MS (Con, South Wales Central), via an Institute of Welsh Affairs piece entitled Solving the Senedd’s Engagement Problem. This debate usually rears its head at the start of every term; Steffan Lewis made similar points in 2016.
To get them out of the way, some suggestions were easy to agree with:
- Major announcements should be made in the Senedd chamber first (or to the Senedd in virtual session for however long that lasts).
- The Senedd – and local government by implication – should switch back to elections every four years instead of five.
- The number of opposition-led debates should be cut (motions are often poorly-drafted and the debates themselves either take place after interest in the story has passed, are ineffective or repetitive).
- More urgent and topical questions.
“First Minister’s Questions still starts at 1:30pm on a Tuesday. This needs to be brought forward so that the work of the Senedd can feed into the news cycle, rather than expecting the news cycle to tailor itself to us.”
What “news cycle”?
It’s easy to misunderstand why parliaments and councils should be covered. It’s not for “news”. They’re not doing anything particularly interesting or entertaining – and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s for transparency and public accountability. We need to see them doing their job so key decisions aren’t made behind closed doors. Doing or saying something that’s “newsworthy” is a bonus and shouldn’t be an expectation.
95%+ of what happens in the UK Parliament isn’t covered by the media, so why is the Senedd so special?
Also, nobody has ever explained what “engagement” means. You can engage MSs 24/7 on social media. I assume it’s more about “taking an interest in what we’re doing and telling us how brilliant we are; that speech was truly maaaaahvelous dahling! Bravissimo!“
If that’s the case then I have to break some bad news: few people care, we don’t have attention spans that long, you and your work are not that interesting plus you’ll never get thanked for it….and that’s OK.
I’m in a similar boat. Most of my work past and present, and identical work elsewhere, is likely read by people who are already interested in this stuff – the commentariat, news junkies, political anoraks, policy wonks, behind-the-scenes staff and special interest groups: what I could call “The Bubble Around The (Cardiff Bay) Bubble”.
Do they think the everyday person is on tenterhooks waiting for the Bay’s latest take on cycling, flags and allotments? They won’t care until something being said becomes something being done in a way that affects them. Laws and binding debates on major controversies aside, that almost always comes from the government not the legislature.
“Lots of people in Wales watch and read UK-wide news providers, and we will have very little hope of reaching and engaging with those people if we work to a news cycle which is restricted to afternoon sessions.”
While the reliance on UK media is undoubtedly true, I still find it astonishing how many MSs expect the UK media to not only have an interest in what they do but an obligation to cover it.
We should all be aware by now that Wales and Welsh politics will only get coverage at the UK level for a few select reasons: human interest, “Wacky Wales” or any policy divergence which directly or indirectly affects England. If members of the Senedd don’t like that, it’s tough. It’s not as if they’ve been clamouring to do anything about it because (particularly the Welsh Government) they don’t want to or need to. They’re in a very comfortable place at the moment – responsibility without scrutiny and disclosure.
It still tickles me how excited they get for a minute or two on Channel 4 News or an article once in a blue moon in The Guardian. You would almost get the impression they’re more concerned about raising their profile across the UK once in a while than amongst the people they were elected to represent all the time – many of whom aren’t even aware of them or what they do.
Those of us within Wales who’ve covered the Senedd and Welsh current affairs have, by comparison, been treated as an afterthought. I’ve lost all sympathy there once was for the “We don’t get enough coverage” argument. They get plenty. They’ve just been snooty about what coverage they do get and have done very little to boost the range and depth of Welsh-oriented news within Wales.
“Another way in which the Senedd can become more dynamic is by allowing more Points of Order. Unfortunately, the process of raising a Point of Order at present can be bureaucratic at the best of times and impossible at the worst of times.”
“Point of Order” is the parliamentary equivalent of “I want to speak to the manager.” It’s for Committee Blazers and Karens. They’re about as dynamic too. It’s a really odd thing to pick as a measure to improve engagement.
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