Monday, July 03, 2006
The sound of silence
A letter in this morning's Western Mail pinpoints a problem that has been perplexing Assembly Members since February, the microphones in the Senedd Committee Rooms do not work properly:
I understand that Jack Straw has backed plans to redesign parts of the House of Commons. Can we ask him to do the same for the Welsh Assembly?
Consistently you cannot hear the debates in committees as microphones don't work. It is pointless in videorecording them (in case) as the broadcasts suffer exactly the some fate and I wonder how the world views all of this, trying to watch silent movies on the web?
Either we have an elected body that can be heard and is accountable by its public statements or we do not.
Top marks to John Dawes for having the stamina to watch our proceedings on such a frequent basis. He has spotted that even when the microphones are working to maximum efficiency there is still a 30 second delay between a member commencing a contribution and the sound being amplified. As a result the public and often, the Record of Proceedings, miss the first few sentences.
In addition the microphones also break down frequently. Last week's Environment Committee had so many problems that Committee Room One was taken out of commission immediately afterwards whilst the problem was investigated.
None of this is the fault of the very hard-working and skilful technical support staff. They have been provided with equipment that does not appear to be up to the task. Let us hope that it is replaced over the summer recess and that the public do not have to bear the cost of doing so.
I understand that Jack Straw has backed plans to redesign parts of the House of Commons. Can we ask him to do the same for the Welsh Assembly?
Consistently you cannot hear the debates in committees as microphones don't work. It is pointless in videorecording them (in case) as the broadcasts suffer exactly the some fate and I wonder how the world views all of this, trying to watch silent movies on the web?
Either we have an elected body that can be heard and is accountable by its public statements or we do not.
Top marks to John Dawes for having the stamina to watch our proceedings on such a frequent basis. He has spotted that even when the microphones are working to maximum efficiency there is still a 30 second delay between a member commencing a contribution and the sound being amplified. As a result the public and often, the Record of Proceedings, miss the first few sentences.
In addition the microphones also break down frequently. Last week's Environment Committee had so many problems that Committee Room One was taken out of commission immediately afterwards whilst the problem was investigated.
None of this is the fault of the very hard-working and skilful technical support staff. They have been provided with equipment that does not appear to be up to the task. Let us hope that it is replaced over the summer recess and that the public do not have to bear the cost of doing so.
