Dedicated to Dr Hefin David
1977 - 2025
“….there are two sources of very good-quality journalism that I use—it isn’t one of the big ones—and that’s Senedd Home, which is run by Owen Donovan, and it’s run entirely as a labour of love. It is the best summary of these debates that you will see anywhere, and I would recommend any Member of the Senedd….use that as a source for finding out what has gone on post debates, because it is the best summary you will see, short of reading through the whole Record yourself, which, of course, isn’t possible. And I’m sure this will get a mention in his summary as well, which is not why I’m saying it, Deputy Minister.”
General/About
A parliamentary monitoring and information site focused on Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament.
It’s a sister site to Oggy Bloggy Ogwr and State of Wales.
My background is in science (mainly anatomy and embryology).
I went to English-medium schools and I’m not a fluent Welsh-speaker but can usually follow bits and pieces of a conversation.
Although I’m on friendly terms with a few former MSs, I don’t have any serious political or journalistic connections.
I’m more interested in systems and the practical side of policy than ideology. I’m not radical for the sake of it. The main question I ask when it comes to politics is, “Does this/Will this work?”
The original version of the site – which ran between 2017 – 2021 – was a magazine style site which reported on proceedings and committee inquiries at the Senedd.
This new version (as of 2026) will be very different. The aim to complement sites such as They Work For You by monitoring and tracking the performance of MSs and how the Welsh Government and Senedd scrutinise decisions and deal with issues.
Follow Oggy Bloggy Ogwr on social media (more details here), or sign up by email for updates (towards the bottom on mobiles).
You’ll be sent an e-mail every time a new batch of articles are published.
This is a new approach so it’s hard to answer (for now). With a set routine/pattern it’s likely to take a few hours a week to update various spreadsheets and pages.
I don’t like party politics. I don’t like student politics. I don’t like committees. I don’t like press releases. I don’t like the schmoozing and arse-kissing you need to do to get anywhere in politics.
Rest assured, I have no intentions of joining a political party or campaign group.
I don’t make a lot of money.
I receive significantly less financial (and other) support when compared to similar sites. That said, I receive enough in donations to ensure I’m not directly out of pocket, but per hour worked it’s as low as £1-per-hour.
I’ve never received a single penny of public funding – even for Senedd Home.
If you like what’s on the site and want to consider donating, head over to the support and donation page.
The most powerful thing you can do is often the simplest: just share the posts – whether you agree, disagree or don’t care.
Likes are nice, but they don’t get eyeballs.
No.
This isn’t really suited to it, though if I’ve left something out or make a mistake don’t hesitate to get in touch.
I value my privacy.
I also believe that Welsh politics is far too “chummy”. So maintaining a professional distance is important to remain impartial. I didn’t start this to make friends or contacts. Anything I want to say is on here, I don’t need to add to it.
Senedd VAR & Senedd Service Index
The points are a way to record MSs’ work in the Senedd so you can compare their performances.
A full breakdown of how many points are awarded (or taken away) and why is available here.
It’s based on the most common actions MSs do in the Senedd and its committees. For example, asking/answering a question or taking part in a debate. It’s also been set up to make it easy for me to log and monitor.
The Experience sub-category also takes the MSs’ previous political experience (i.e. whether they’ve been a county councillor) and (known) qualifications into account.
Yes. It only measures performance/activity in the Senedd itself.
A lot of an MS’s work is done outside the Senedd. Examples include constituency casework, media appearances, behind-the-scenes work within the Welsh Government, and work behind-the-scenes as part of an opposition group or committee. That kind of work is difficult to monitor, but it would be reflected on what they do in the Senedd chamber and committees.
Welsh Government announcements, the official Record of Proceedings (Y Cofnod), logs of written questions, voting summaries and attendance details (committees only). In some cases, it may involve reports from the mainstream media.
The aim is to do this weekly.
The Points Table ranks MSs using their total points score.
The Points Table itself, and the points on individual MS profile pages, will be updated every half-term (roughly every 6-8 weeks).
Across several spreadsheets. I want to publish them in full, probably once a year as an “annual report”.
Has it been applied harshly in a few cases? Possibly.
We’ve been constantly told that increasing MSs’ pay and increasing the size of the Senedd would improve scrutiny. So there’s absolutely nothing wrong with holding MSs to a very high standard from day one. It’s up to them how they want to approach the role.
The points are applied in the same way to everyone, and the reasons why MSs are “penalised” are recorded and justified.
Trackers
The aim is to do this weekly (or at the very least, fortnightly) for both political parties/groups and individual MSs.
There are three figures.
Vote attendance records an MSs attendance at “Voting Time”. This includes proxy voting if an MS is on a leave of absence. Attendance for plenary meetings isn’t recorded, so this is the closest thing to a “did they attend plenary” measure.
Committee attendance is self-explanatory and is recorded (though is sometimes slow to update).
Total attendance is the percentage of voting time and committee sessions that an MS has been present as expected.
Whenever there’s a development, though most of the information will be on the Bill’s individual page itself.
The same day there’s a development/change, ideally. The date of the last time each table was updated is included for each group of promises.
Pay is usually set annually, while allowances and expenses are normally published quarterly (every three months). So, ideally, these figures will be updated quarterly.
They’re based on budgets and allowances set by the Independent Remuneration Board, MS declarations, publications under the Ministerial Code, and the Senedd’s own reports.
A lot of the time this means “money available” rather than “money spent”.
The overall figures for the parties and individual MSs should be treated as estimates because they don’t take into account things like support staff salaries.
This doesn’t change anything. The money….our money….is still being spent, regardless. What they do with it is their business.
You can look at the finances and then look at their Senedd Service Index points score and Senedd VAR to work out whether we’re getting value for money from them or not.
Issues
Any issue raised in the Senedd could potentially have its own page.
In rare circumstances, a page might be created for an event that hasn’t been raised in the Senedd, but is likely to be of public interest (i.e. a major incident).
Ultimately, what gets a page is down to MSs and what they consider to be important enough to raise in meetings or with Ministers.
Issues that are far more likely to get a page include topics tabled for a debate, questions that get lots of follow-up questions from other MSs, topics discussed by MSs from at least three different political parties, and issues concerning core Welsh Government policies or commitments.
There could be several reasons. Firstly, it could be on the “waiting list” for a page because not enough MSs have brought it up yet. These will likely get a page at some point. Be patient.
Secondly, it could be too technical/dull/boring or vague; for example, arguing over points of law or processes.
Very localised issues (i.e. road safety issues) are unlikely to get a page unless it makes a bigger point about Welsh Government policy.
Another reason might be that it’s an issue better taken up by local councillors, or isn’t fully devolved. It could also have been poorly argued or framed by MSs, so I can’t justify setting up a page for it.
There are also restrictions on reporting certain things. This includes ongoing legal proceedings or live planning applications.
I’m not going to include every single quote by every single member on every single topic. Only relevant and unique/eye-catching quotes will be picked out. The Record of Proceedings/Y Cofnod is there if you want to search for all MS contributions.
Besides, I want to focus more on what MSs do than what they say.
They haven’t said anything on any of the Issues which have their own page. This doesn’t mean they haven’t said or done anything.
Issues that fall under their policy portfolio haven’t been selected for coverage yet. Be patient.
Minor updates – such as adding an extra quote from an MS – may be added the same day.
More significant updates, such as a completely new Welsh Government policy position, adding new graphs/statistics, or taking into account a debate, may take a bit longer.
Regardless, the aim will be to update issues the same week there’s a change.
All issues that have received updates – major or minor – will be linked to in the newsletter. You can sign up at the bottom of this page.
Each Issue and Member has their own tag/ID number so some of the page features can automatically update. This means I don’t have to add things manually to every page.
It also helps with newsletter updates.
