Blog from the Chair of the Petitions Committee, William Powell AM, about the National Eisteddfod

Blog from the Chair of the Petitions Committee, William Powell AM, about the National Eisteddfod 15 August 201

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I was delighted to attend the National Eisteddfod at the beginning of August in my capacity as Chair of the Petitions Committee. Thanks to the glorious weather at the Eisteddfod, the Petitions Committee clerking team and I were able to sit outside the Assembly bus (rather than in it, as we did at the Royal Welsh Show) and discuss petitions in the sunshine. Petitioning is a great way for the public to engage with and influence the work of the National Assembly. Through the petitions process, anyone can raise the profile of an issue with Assembly Members and the public (provided the Assembly has responsibility for that issue), thereby placing political pressure on the Welsh Government to consider changes in policy or approach. However, submitting a petition can also be a useful route for organisations to raise awareness of an issue. A petition can provide a focal point for a broader campaign and can increase press coverage of an issue. At the Eisteddfod, we discussed the petitions process with representatives of organisations such as Shelter Cymru, Age Cymru, Keep Wales Tidy, the Young Farmers, the Wales Governance Centre, Mind Cymru, Barnardo’s and Stonewall.

It was great to meet the Age Cymru team as the Committee had considered their report on public toilet provision, ‘Nowhere to Go’, as part of its deliberations on a petition calling for the health and social wellbeing implications of public toilet closures to be investigated. The Committee has now referred this petition to the Health and Social Care Committee for possible consideration. I was also delighted to meet the Director of Stonewall Cymru, especially as Stonewall recently recognised the Assembly as one of the top gay-friendly employers in the UK. Stonewall have fed into the petition calling for compulsory guidance on homophobic bullying to be issued to schools. In response to the Committee’s letter on this subject, the Minister for Education and Skills has told the Committee that he is in the process of developing anti-bullying guidance. Once this guidance is published, we will seek the petitioner’s views on it. I was especially pleased to see so many young people visiting the Assembly bus, and it was a fantastic opportunity to tell them that they don’t need to wait until they’re old enough to vote to get their voice heard by politicians; young people of any age can submit petitions to the Petitions Committee. Indeed, the petition calling for additional trains to Fishguard submitted by two 15-year-olds achieved its desired outcome, as the Welsh Government has now agreed to fund five additional train services to and from Fishguard from September 2011. I urge anyone with an issue they feel strongly about to contact the Petitions Committee team at the National Assembly for Wales to see if you could submit a petition. Once again I reiterate the comment made by a gentleman I spoke to about petitions at the Royal Welsh Show: It’s democracy in action! William Powell AM, Chair of the Petitions Committee