Consultation on draft Social Public Works Clauses: Model clauses published under the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023

The Welsh Government is consulting on draft Social Public Works Clauses required to implement Part 3 of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (hereafter referred to as the SPPP Act). Welsh Ministers are seeking feedback from the Welsh public sector, employers, trade unions, social partners and any other interested parties before publishing Social Public Works Clauses.

This consultation invites views on the Social Public Works Clauses proposed under Part 3 of the SPPP Act. These clauses are designed to be included in construction (works) contracts valued over £2 million.

Views are not sought on the policy intent because the policy intent is settled and grounded in the SPPP Act. This consultation invites views on whether the draft Social Public Works Clauses accurately reflects the policy intent.

Respondents are asked to state whether they agree or disagree with the question posed under each section. Where respondents disagree or strongly disagree, they have the opportunity to explain their reasoning. Comments should focus on whether the policy intention has been appropriately translated into the clauses. In addition, there are 3 questions relating to the Welsh Language.

Extensive prior stakeholder engagement, the targeted scope of the clauses, and planned further engagement have enabled us to streamline the consultation period, reducing it from 12 weeks to 8 weeks. This approach ensures that the Works Clauses can be published ahead of the anticipated commencement of Part 3 of the SPPP Act. In turn, this will allow Contracting Authorities to fully implement the Part 3 requirements from the date they come into force, delivering benefits for both Contracting Authorities and the wider public.

Section 27 of the SPPP Act requires that Welsh Ministers must publish model clauses for major construction contracts (“social public works clauses”) designed to bring about the improvements to economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being listed in the Table in subsection (2) shown below:

Category and improvements

• Payments: Ensuring and enforcing prompt payments.
• Employment: Providing employment opportunities to younger people, older people, the long term unemployed, people with disabilities (Draft The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2026 substitutes this term with “disabled people”) or people who may otherwise be disadvantaged (for example because of their race, religion or belief, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation).
• Compliance: Ensuring compliance with legal obligations in relation to employment rights (including the minimum and living wage - National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates), health and safety, and trade union representation.
• Training: Providing appropriate training for workers.
• Sub-contracting: Providing opportunities to small and medium sized enterprises and voluntary organisations to execute works, supply products or provide services.
• Environment: Requiring sustainable management of natural resources, use of sustainable materials, resilience to the impact of climate change, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancement of the natural environment and biodiversity.

Contracting Authorities listed in Schedule 1 of the SPPP Act are required to take particular actions regarding major construction contracts as part of their socially responsible procurement duty. Inclusion of this duty in the Act reflects the importance of strengthening the link between requirements included as part of the procurement procedure, contract management duties and due diligence in major construction supply chains.

The duty and the social public works clauses seek to reduce and eliminate poor compliance with legal obligations in relation to employment rights, including those in relation to unfair and unlawful employment practices, which can be hard to address throughout long and complex supply chains. It will also help to ensure that contractual obligations are met throughout the life of the contract.

The duty in the SPPP Act placed on Contracting Authorities is to:

• have regard to the published clauses
• consider whether the contract should include the published clauses
• take all reasonable steps to include the published clauses
• take all reasonable steps to ensure the published clauses can be implemented
• when managing the contract, take all reasonable steps to ensure the published clauses included in the contract are implemented

If a Contracting Authority intends to include social public works clauses in a major construction contract it agrees with a contractor, section 28 of the SPPP Act requires the Contracting Authority to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the obligations in the social public works clauses are implemented where the contractor enters into a subcontract with a subcontractor.

Section 29 of the SPPP Act requires that Contracting Authorities must notify Welsh Ministers if:

• they do not intend to include social public works clauses - despite having considered whether to do so in accordance with section 25(1)(b)
• social public works clauses are not included in the contract - despite the authority having taken all reasonable steps in accordance with section 25(1)(c)(i)
• there is no process in place for ensuring that obligations in social public works clauses are implemented - despite the authority having taken all reasonable steps in accordance with section 25(1)(c)(ii)
• there is no process in place for ensuring that obligations in social public works clauses are implemented where the contract is subcontracted - despite the authority having taken all reasonable steps in accordance with section 28(2)

Section 30 of the SPPP Act details the actions Welsh Ministers must take when responding to a notification.

Where a notification is received, the Contracting Authority may be asked to provide further information and documentation in order that Welsh Ministers can decide whether to accept the reasons given.

If the Welsh Ministers are not satisfied with the reasons given, they could direct the Contracting Authority to take all reasonable steps to include the social public works clauses.

The notification, reasons and any directions will be published, and the public procurement subgroup of the Social Partnership Council will be informed.

Following consideration of responses to the consultation, the final version of the social public works clauses will be published by Welsh Ministers.

Social public works clauses in major construction contracts

1. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Payments - “Ensuring and enforcing prompt payments”?

2. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Employment - “Providing employment opportunities to younger people, older people, the long term unemployed, people with disabilities or people who may otherwise be disadvantaged (for example because of their race, religion or belief, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation)?

3. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Compliance – “Ensuring compliance with legal obligations in relation to employment rights (including the minimum and living wage), health and safety, and trade union representation”?

4. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Training – “Providing appropriate training for workers”?

5a: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Sub-contracting – “Providing opportunities to small and medium sized enterprises and voluntary organisations to execute works, supply products or provide services”?

6a: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” meet the requirements under section 27 of the Act in relation to Environment – “Requiring sustainable management of natural resources, use of sustainable materials, resilience to the impact of climate change, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and enhancement of the natural environment and biodiversity”?

Social public works clauses in subcontracts

7. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” can be implemented into subcontracts?

Use with different forms of contract

8. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the model “social public works clauses” can be used within commonly used forms of contract, i.e. New Engineering Contract (NEC), Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT)?

Explanatory notes

9. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the Explanatory notes provided for the model “social public works clauses” are sufficient and useful?

Welsh Language

10. What, in your opinion, would be the likely effects of the model “social public works clauses” on the Welsh language? We are particularly interested in any likely effects on opportunities to use the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English.

Do you think that there are opportunities to promote any positive effects?
Do you think that there are opportunities to mitigate any adverse effects?

10b: In your opinion, could the model “social public works clauses” be formulated or changed so as to:

• have positive effects or more positive effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English, or
• mitigate any negative effects on using the Welsh language and on not treating the Welsh language less favourably than English?

10c: We have asked a number of specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use this space to report them:

Submit your comments by 19 January 2026, in any of the following ways:

• complete our online form
• download, complete our response form and email: sociallyresponsiblepublicprocurementconsultation@gov.wales
• download, complete our response form and post to:

Corporate Services and Inspectorates
Commercial Procurement Division
Procurement Legislation Team
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ

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