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A proposal for a behind the scenes documentary about the National Assembly for Wales has been shelved after the ruling Labour group blocked the idea.

Earlier in the year a number of AMs across the Senedd expressed outrage after the National Assembly turned down a request from James Bond’s producers to film in the Senedd’s chamber.

But a letter from Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler to party leaders revealed that a bid for an Inside the Commons-style documentary in the Assembly failed to get off the ground after it failed to get unanimous approval from Assembly parties.

Labour said the proposal may have caused “significant disruption to the day-to-day work of Assembly Members”.

'Life behind-the-scenes'

Ms Butler wrote to the party leaders in early October asking for views on a “proposal to film a documentary depicting life behind-the-scenes at the Assembly”.

She said both ITV Wales and BBC Wales had approached the Assembly with the idea, with Ms Butler calling the documentary a “fantastic opportunity”.

But she later wrote back saying the Assembly had failed to secure unanimous approval from the parties.

“We will therefore advise BBC Wales and ITV Wales that the project will not be proceeding,” she said.

More: 'It would have been too disruptive' - Assembly Presiding Officer defends decision to ban James Bond filming in Senedd

Labour: Documentary could cause disruption

A spokesman for the Labour group said: “Having considered the issue carefully at a recent meeting Labour members felt that they were unable to support the proposal at present.

“It was felt that the proposal came with very short notice, lacked detail, and would potentially cause significant disruption to the day-to-day work of members, staff, and to Assembly business during an extremely busy period.”

The Welsh Liberal Democrats, the Welsh Conservatives, and Plaid Cymru all said they did not block the request.

Peter Black, Welsh Lib Dem culture spokesman, said: “Once again we see the evasive Labour party shutting down transparency and scrutiny in the National Assembly.

“To claim that there was too little notice is pathetic as discussions were still very much in the early stages.”

ITV: proposals for England and Welsh versions

A Plaid Cymru source said the group had been fine with the proposal. Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader in the Assembly, said on Twitter: “Thank you to the Presiding Officer for putting the documentary invite to all parties. It’s a shame that it’s not going ahead.”

An ITV Wales spokesman said: “We can confirm that ITV Cymru Wales made an approach to the Welsh Assembly earlier this year for permission to film the workings of the Assembly for a landmark behind-the-scenes series.

“The proposal was to make an English language version for ITV and a Welsh language version for S4C. We haven’t heard back on the outcome of our approach to date.”