5. What work has the Commission undertaken to make the Senedd estate dementia-friendly? OQ61159

Thank you, Luke, for your question. The Senedd is committed to making the Senedd estate welcoming and accessible to people with dementia, and to the people that accompany them as well. Since the Commission committed to becoming a dementia-friendly organisation in 2015, we continue to build on this work in the sixth Senedd, including providing training to staff, as well as awareness-raising sessions and articles. We're developing customer service guidance on non-visible disabilities, which includes guidance relating to delivering an inclusive service to people with dementia, and that will accompany new training provision for front-line staff to provide an inclusive welcome for customers, building on previous training that they've received.

Thank you for that answer. It's welcome news to learn of the training that is happening. It's always surprising to a lot of people when you give them the information around how dementia can affect perception. Something simple like a black mark to us might appear as a black hole to somebody who is with dementia, and they will be, therefore, afraid to cross that hole.

As chair of the cross-party group on dementia, I was really glad to see the Alzheimer's Society's event in the Norwegian church just last week, as part of Dementia Action Week, where we heard directly from those who are living with dementia, and some of the concerns that they have, as well as some of the challenges they face. So, I was wondering if the Commission might commit to engaging with those who are living with dementia on a regular basis to see where the challenges lie in terms of changing the Senedd estate, but also to actively consult with them to ensure that, when they do come to the Senedd, those views have been taken on board and that their visit is a pleasant experience.

Thank you. We are always wanting to engage with people, and to make the experience of anybody coming here a good experience, so, of course, we would commit to engaging. And the Commission's newly designed inclusive customer service training module will provide best practice when liaising with people with dementia and those who support them. It will raise our staff members' awareness and confidence when dealing with a diverse range of customers with different requirements. The Commission's visitor engagement team works with groups and individuals ahead of their visits to ensure that their specific needs and requirements are met. The Commission has developed a 360-degree virtual tour, available on the Senedd website, to help visitors to familiarise themselves with the building and its features, particularly for those who might be nervous before they take on such a visit. We provide quiet rooms on the estate and changing places for adults.

Training and awareness sessions were held as part of inclusion month in 2022, and we continue to mark relevant diversity calendar dates to raise awareness. A lot of the good work was somehow interrupted and stalled through COVID. Of course, we need to make sure that all the good practice that was there before continues now. But we are already working closely with Alzheimer's Society Cymru. Their dementia-friendly team have delivered their Dementia Friends training and awareness session for Members. I've taken part in that, and I'm sure many others in this room have. We want to do the best. This is the people's building, it's not our building—we recognise that, and anything that we can do, we will do. So, the short answer is, 'Yes, we'll engage', but we also have published guidance, blogs and articles promoting dementia awareness and we do take our responsibility very seriously.

I thank the Commissioners.