Meetings

Commissioners received the results of the 2023 Member / MSS Satisfaction Survey, which was conducted between 18 September and 15 October 2023 and was open to 60 Members and 267 Support Staff.

Commissioners noted the results of the 2023 Member / MSS Satisfaction Survey, and that, as in previous years, a summary of the results will be shared with the Independent Remuneration Board (IRB) and published. They welcomed that KPIs had been met and that the response rate to the survey was increased from previous years and reflected that it was pleasing to see the increased support provided in relation to some services being reflected in the survey results.

Commissioners were presented with the results of the 2022 Member and Support Staff survey, which would form the baseline data for the Sixth Senedd.

Commissioners expressed an interest in the services provided to support wellbeing as there was some expressed lack of awareness of them, and inquired about progress of the Dignity and Respect review, which had been informed by survey responses, and were informed that a report would come to Commission by the Autumn.

Commissioners agreed to share relevant findings with the Remuneration Board, and to then share the results report with Members, Support Staff and Commission Staff by publishing the information internally.

Commissioners received the 2020 Member and Support Staff survey results and noted that data from the survey would contribute to two Key Performance Indicators in the Commission’s Annual Report 2020-21. They discussed the value of taking Members’ views through the survey and agreed that it should continue to be used as one of the means to seek feedback. In recognising the low response rate in this survey, Commissioners reflected that it would be reasonable to assume that people who are unhappy with services would be more likely to prioritise completing such a survey and those who were content less so.

Commissioners noted the survey results and agreed to share the results report in the usual ways; and to share a summary of relevant findings with the Remuneration Board.

Commissioners were provided with a summary of the 2019 Assembly Member and Support Staff Survey. In line with the Commission’s decision in 2018, this year’s survey was shorter and collected mostly quantitative data to allow for year on year comparison and performance monitoring.

Commissioners noted the results of the survey, and agreed to share the findings with Members and their staff later this month.

Commissioners were provided with a summary of the 2018 Assembly Member and Support Staff Survey.

The level of engagement in the survey from Members and support staff is lower than it has been for some time. Scores don’t tend to vary greatly from one year to the next but the qualitative information gathered provides useful information for service improvement.

Commissioners agreed to share the findings of the survey with Members and their staff later this month.

Commissioners agreed to introduce changes to the way feedback is sought from Members. These included:

•        continuing with an annual survey, but to collect only the quantitative data year on year to allow for comparison and performance monitoring;

•        carrying out a fuller survey before the end of this Assembly, to assist the Commission with its planning for the sixth Assembly;

•        targeting newly elected Members early in the next Assembly;

•        exploring different ways of communicating with Members and their staff about the services provided and gathering feedback about these. 

The paper will not be published. High level detail will be included in the Annual Report as part of KPI reporting.

The Board welcomed Rebecca Hardwicke and Carys Rees to discuss the results of the first satisfaction survey of the Fifth Assembly. The aim of the survey was to provide feedback to help achieve the Commission’s goal of providing Outstanding Parliamentary Support. 

The Board noted that, overall, the results showed a positive response to services provided and there was a modest increase in the scores generally. A greater degree of outreach to constituency offices had taken place over the period by ICT, Security, Professional Development, N Wales Front of House and Members’ Business Support teams, with a tailored survey produced for constituency staff.

It was agreed that:

·                queries and issues raised by individuals that had identified themselves would be followed up with them in a holistic way, involving all relevant services;

·                Heads would consider how to incorporate feedback into service delivery where feasible; and comments on engagement and their impact on their own service area;

·                consideration would be given to ways of making it easier to work in English, where Welsh text was shown first;

·                it would be worthwhile comparing feedback from the forthcoming staff survey on the Official Languages Scheme and preparing to respond;

·                improvements from each Service Area would be collated at the end of the period and reported in the Highlight Report to the Commission; and

·                a message would be provided to Members and support staff that the Board had looked at the anonymous feedback and considered improvements, reporting back on general progress and to individuals in due course.

A summary of the results would be discussed with Adam Price AM, Commissioner responsible for delivery and transformation of services to Members, and provided to Commissioners out of meeting thereafter. The Board thanked everyone involved in organising and contributing to the survey.

Management Board welcomed Rebecca Hardwicke and Carys Rees, Members’ Business Support, to the meeting to discuss the outcomes of the review and recommendations for the next Members’ satisfaction survey.

There were no significant changes proposed compared to the previous survey, but there was a need to ensure that results could be tracked over the years. However, the survey had been adjusted to fit the current strategy and timed so that results could be incorporated into the Annual Report and Corporate Key Performance Indicator Report, published in June/July.

Management Board recommended that the survey should cover: youth engagement; broader areas where bilingual services were offered to ensure the team approach taken is clear; papers prepared for Members beyond Committee papers and their timeliness; and specifically flagging the extent to which Members and their staff are supported to work in either language.

In relation to constituency staff, the Board were advised that office visits had been planned to help them feel more engaged. A survey would be prepared specific to their needs, but sufficiently similar to enable comparisons to be drawn in reporting.

The Board thanked Rebecca and Carys for all the work done in reviewing and preparing the survey and were advised that Commission Services would now have lead responsibility for the surveys.

The Commission considered the results of the fourth annual Member and Support Staff survey.

Thirty three Members and 107 Support staff had responded to the survey and the majority of service areas saw an increase in their scores from 2014.

Commissioners recognised the value of such feedback to inform a strategic approach to further improvement and agreed that the survey results should be shared with Members and staff.

paper 4

The Commission reviewed the results of the 2014 Assembly Member and Support Staff Survey. Following Member feedback on the 2013 survey, the 2014 Survey contained fewer questions, just twelve, and gave respondents the ability to provide more feedback via optional comment sections.  Commissioners agreed that the survey results be shared with Members and staff shortly.

Dave Tosh provided the Board with a summary of conclusions from the 2014-15 Assembly Member and support staff survey. It was noted that this survey was significantly shorter than previous years – 12 questions compared to 50 last year- and the simpler survey had worked well.  Although completion rates were slightly down from the previous year, this was likely due to timing with other surveys being undertaken at the same time.  Scores were generally good, with sustained or improved results to the previous survey and significant progress had been made in areas such as ICT and working in the language of choice.  The engagement score was lower than the previous survey and it was agreed that future surveys should be clearer about what was meant by engagement to make sure the results were meaningful.

Management Board congratulated and thanked staff who had contributed to the improved scores.

Actions:

·                Service Heads to build actions from the survey into service plans, with specific reference to the survey results;

·                Heads to report back on progress to Members through the Chief Executive’s update;

·                the improvement in Welsh language services should be shared with other organisations and positive feedback provided to staff;

·                the Communications team to consider how Members can be supported further in engagement within their constituencies; and

·               consideration to be given to the handling of the next survey, in order to increase response rate.

paper 4 & annexes

The second Assembly Member and support staff survey had been completed in June 2013 and a subsequent report identifying areas for improvement or action had been developed by staff.

Commissioners agreed that the survey had provided a useful mechanism for gathering feedback from Members and staff and that this played an important part in assessing performance. It was agreed that the survey would be amended in future years, with separate questions for Members and for their staff recognising the different ways in which they use Commission services. Commissioners welcomed the action plan and asked to receive a high level summary of the survey results in future rather than the full report of all the data.

Commissioners agreed that the paper should not be published.