Guest Blog #2: Housing Bill (Wales) Workshop

Recently the National Assembly’s outreach team conducted its first pre-legislative workshop in north Wales. The point of the session was to explain the Assembly’s legislative process and how people can contribute to the forthcoming consultation on the Welsh Government’s Housing Bill.  Louise Blackwell from Clwyd Alyn Housing Association took part in the session and tells us how it has benefitted her. The Housing (Wales) Bill Workshop was a welcome indulgence – informative and interesting, giving me the tools to engage and have a real input into the legislative process in Wales. Being a Community Development Officer, I began to understand the links between our multi-agency ‘Community Voice Project’ (which is currently running in Conwy) and the National Assembly for Wales’ Outreach Team. This meeting also gave me a great insight into what challenges each other face and to make sure the issues/concerns we hear from residents are reaching the people who are in a position to make a difference. This made me curious. Would a joint petition be a worthwhile exercise in the areas that have been recently mentioned at our ‘Meet the Ministers’ event in Colwyn Bay last week? This session has given me hope that the National Assembly for Wales will run specific consultations with some of our residents. In my opinion the Assembly can only gain from insightful case studies of people’s experience in Wales about current issues.