Call for a permanent memorial to former Alyn and Deeside AM Carl Sargeant have been rejected by Assembly Commission
Calls for a permanent memorial in the Senedd to the late Alyn and Deeside Assembly Member Carl Sargeant have been rejected.
Conservative AM Andrew RT Davies, Labour AM Jenny Rathbone and Plaid Cymru AM Bethan Sayed wrote to Presiding Officer Elin Jones asking for a permanent memorial to Mr Sargeant.
A campaign was launched last November – the second anniversary of the former Welsh Government ministers death – for a plaque to be placed within the Assembly estate.
During a meeting of the Commission held last week the request was discussed and ruled out.
The Assembly Commission consists of the Presiding Officer and four other AM’s nominated by the main political parties.
Presiding Officer Ellen Jones wrote back to the cross-party group of AM’s, she said:
“I respect the spirit in which you wish to honour Carl’s memory and the sentiment behind the request.
You are aware that a new policy of dealing with such requests was agreed by the Commission in February 2019.
For clarity, the policy states that only proposals for individuals who have died at least 10 years previously will be considered.
At the Commission meeting on 27 January 2020, we discussed your request.
The Commission is of the view that it is important to maintain the integrity of the policy and therefore concluded that it was not possible to accommodate your request. ”
AM Andrew RT Davies felt the Commission was putting obstacles in the way of a delivering a “fitting tribute” to Mr Sargeant, he said:
“As an Assembly we’ve yet to properly commemorate the passing of Carl Sargeant and indeed a number of other Assembly Members, and this needs to be rectified.
There is cross-party support for such a memorial and instead of putting up obstacles, the Assembly Commission should listen and work with AMs to deliver a fitting tribute.”
Daran Hill, who chaired the launch meeting of the campaign for a memorial for Carl Sergeant and close friend of the former AM said:
“The Assembly Commission has a policy on memorials which I believe is out of step with the wishes of Assembly Members.
In this Assembly, two members have died in awfully tragic circumstances, Carl and Steffan Lewis, one of the youngest members.
I think that proper memorials will help people get closure and will be appropriate reflections of two well loved politicians.”
Andrew RT Davies has call on the Commission to make a statement on its memorials policy during oral questions to be heard in the Senedd on Wednesday.
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