Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023: Welsh Ministers’ annual report 2024 to 2025

This report is laid before the Senedd pursuant to the Welsh Ministers’ duty under section 19(3)(b) of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (“the SPPP Act”).

The SPPP Act was made on 24 May 2023 and put social partnership working in Wales on a statutory footing.

The SPPP Act established the Social Partnership Council (SPC) which provides advice and information to the Welsh Ministers on social partnership working, the pursuit of “A Prosperous Wales” well-being goal and socially responsible public procurement by public bodies in Wales. The SPC is made up of members from the Welsh Government, employer representatives and representatives of workers in Wales.

Section 17 of the SPPP Act places a duty on the Welsh Ministers to consult the SPC when making decisions of a strategic nature about the reasonable steps the Welsh Ministers take to meet their well-being objectives set under the WFG Act. This allows the SPC to have a direct say in shaping those strategic decisions and to hold the Welsh Government to account.

Section 19 requires the Welsh Ministers to prepare, in respect of each financial year, a report of what they have done to comply with the duty imposed under section 17. The report must be agreed with the SPC or contain a statement explaining why it was not agreed. The report must be published, submitted to the SPC and laid before the Senedd. These requirements provide the SPC with the opportunity to question the Welsh Government’s approach on matters within its remit and ensure accountability.

The social partnership duty on the Welsh Ministers came into force on 1 April 2024 and this report, the first to be published under the duty, covers the financial year 2024/25.

At the first SPC meeting on 1 February 2024, the then First Minister set out the proposed approach in relation to discharging the social partnership duty on the Welsh Ministers imposed by section 17 of the SPPP Act and it was agreed by Cabinet and, subsequently, the SPC. The agreed approach means that the section 17 duty would be fulfilled by consulting the SPC each year on the three overarching drivers of the strategic delivery of the Welsh Government’s Programme for Government:

• the assessment of progress through the annual review of well-being objectives,
• the annual legislative programme, and
• the annual budget priorities.

The Welsh Ministers have discharged this duty for financial year 2024-25 by consulting the SPC on its first two items at the SPC’s 4 June 2024 meeting and on budget priorities at the SPC’s 30 September 2024 meeting. These consultations allowed SPC members to participate at a formative stage of the decision-making process on the delivery of the three overarching drivers of the Programme for Government.

Details of the June meeting can be found here: Social Partnership Council meeting, 4 June 2024: minutes. Details of the September meeting can be found here: Social Partnership Council meeting, 30 September 2024: minutes.

There was a positive discussion on the review of the Welsh Government’s well-being objectives at the SPC in June 2024 and a further written submission from the trade union members. Members agreed that Fair Work must be at the heart of what we do.

In this the first year of the social partnership duty, we recognised that we would not be able to have as complete a discussion as we would like to have, with the SPC only having its first opportunity to discuss the wellbeing objectives in June with the annual report needing to be published in July.

The views provided by SPC members concerned the wording and scope of the objectives which identified a range of ways to take the review of the well-being objectives forward. Their views will also inform Welsh Ministers’ actions and maximise their contribution to the well-being goals.

Sarah Murphy MS, the then Minister for Social Partnership wrote to the SPC in July 2024 recognising that the issues raised by SPC members were a vital input into broader considerations on delivery moving forward although Cabinet had concluded that they would retain the existing well-being objectives.

Details of the July meeting can be found here: Social Partnership Council meeting: 10 July 2024. The published letter covering well-being objectives can be found here: Letter to Social Partnership Council members: wellbeing objectives.

The SPC was consulted on the proposed legislative programme before its consideration by Cabinet. Legislation is one of the main levers the Government has to effect change and can make a significant impact on the lives of citizens. That is why it was so important that the then First Minister was able to discuss legislative priorities with the SPC before finalising the legislative programme. However, it was noted that, at the time of the discussion, we were already just over 3 years into the current 5-year programme, the Welsh Government’s focus was now on ensuring the delivery of legislative priorities which were already under development.

Members were given an overview of all the proposed Bills and discussion centred on the Bus Bill as members recognised the positive impact that a good public transport system has on the workforce. The then First Minister committed to notify members when the Stage 1 consultation on that Bill (which he announced in the Senedd in his legislative statement on 9 July) was launched. He pointed out that the Bill would set the general direction but that issues such as accessibility and equality of approach for transport across Wales would be for the secondary legislation under the Bill, which was key to delivery. Discussion also focussed on what would make the biggest difference to the people of Wales, with members seeing merit in all the proposed Bills. The SPC’s views were fed back to Cabinet and the relevant Bill.

Ministers as part of finalising the legislative programme ahead of the then First Minister’s statement to Plenary.

The minutes for this discussion have been published here: Social Partnership Council meeting, 30 September 2024: minutes.

The SPC was consulted on the approach to the Annual Budget by the First Minister on 30th September, who also gave the SPC members an overview of the public listening exercise conducted by the Welsh Government over the summer. Members discussed how best to empower staff to drive improvements on delivery.

SPC members’ views not only shaped decisions on budget prioritisation in support of the well-being objectives but also advice to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Cabinet Office on her work regarding medium to longer-term thinking about a new approach to the Welsh Spending Review. This represented an important step on our partnership journey.

The SPC had previously been given an early opportunity, at its first meeting in February 2024 to discuss the previous year’s draft budget with the then Minister for Finance and Local Government (MFLG) ahead of it being published. At this meeting members thanked the MFLG for the discussions that already taken place with social partners and recognised the difficult decisions faced by Welsh Ministers in setting the draft budget. The MFLG welcomed the SPC’s continued engagement in the annual budget setting process

The minutes for this discussion have been published here: Social Partnership Council meeting, 30 September 2024: minutes

All minutes and papers relating to the SPC have been published on the SPC website, and can be found here: Social Partnership Council meetings.