Work as usual at Assembly (despite snow!)
Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 5:11pm
one response
HAPPY New Year!
So here we are back at the Assembly. The snow hasn’t stopped ready for the Assembly start, but I am confident that we can try to continue our work as usual…
Obviously local authorities are concerned about the continuing levels of grit that they have for their roads, and being able to keep local schools open – especially for those taking their exams. But every effort has been made by emergency services and the relevant authorities to ensure that problems do not arise. And where they do, they are dealt with using the best of resource capability.
Nonetheless, it is clear that we do not have the same resources as countries with colder climates, which face this weather on a regular basis. But it is worth considering contingency plans for the future. Long periods of snow and hazardous weather cannot be ruled out and, as such, we must prepare for those eventualities.
On other issues, I am pleased that the date for the trigger vote for the referendum is being set for February 9th. We need to trigger the referendum as soon as possible so that we can get the campaign underway. I understand that both opposition parties favour a referendum in the Autumn. Are they ruling out a referendum possibility on the same date as the next Assembly election, however? I’m not so sure.
Personally, I would favour an autumn referendum, but if that is not possible, I am not against having it on the same day as the next Assembly election. We can surely respect the electorate enought to undestand the difference between electing their AMs and voting in a referendum? I look forward to working for a positive outcome for the referendum alongside Assembly colleauges and, of course, the wider Welsh public.
To finish, I wanted to ask if anyone knows of any Welsh web chat forums that are popular? I ask as the petitions committee is keen to extend the scope of consultation and views on petitions that we consider as a committee. We see one way of doing this by opening up discussion online. The petitions committee has an e-forum already, but we need to utilise this much more, and encourage much more debate.
