Eluned Morgan, First Minister
I am pleased to announce two new members of the Social Partnership Council (SPC).
I recently wrote to nominating bodies seeking nominations for the vacant employer representative positions. I can confirm that Joshua Miles, Wales Director for FSB, and Aled Edwards, chair of the Public Leaders Forum, have accepted my invitation to join the SPC.
I would like to welcome Joshua and Aled, and I am looking forward to working with them and continuing the important work of the SPC.
Joshua and Aled have joined the existing membership of the SPC:
Worker Representatives
Ruth Brady, GMB
Neil Butler, National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers
Peter Hughes, Unite the Union
Gareth Lloyd, University and College Union
Shavanah Taj, Wales TUC Cymru
Jess Turner, UNISON
Mike Walker, Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
Helen Whyley, Royal College of Nursing
Sian Boyles, Public and Commercial Services Union
Employer Representatives
Pippa Britton, Voluntary Sector
Russell Greenslade, Business
Councillor Anthony Hunt, Local Government
Professor Wendy Larner, Higher Education
Nicola Prygodzicz, Health
Janis Richards, Business
Kathryn Robson, Further Education
Joshua replaces Ben Cottam and Aled replaces Dame Elan Closs-Stephens on the employer representative side. I would like pay tribute to both Ben and Dame Elan for their service and for helping to establish the SPC.
The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (the Act) established the Social Partnership Council, which I chair as First Minister. The membership is made up of employer and worker representatives from the public, private and third sectors in Wales.
The SPC provides information and advice to Welsh Ministers about:
- The social partnership duties the Act imposes on public bodies and the Welsh Ministers.
- The pursuit of the A Prosperous Wales wellbeing goal by public bodies when carrying out sustainable development under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
- The socially responsible public procurement functions conferred on contracting authorities and the Welsh Ministers under Part 3 of the Act.
The SPC works in an open and transparent way. Information and advice provided to Welsh Ministers, meeting papers and minutes, are published in all but exceptional circumstances on the Social Partnership Council website.
The SPC embeds Social Partnership at the heart of the Welsh Government, and I am confident that continuing to work closely and constructively with employers and workers representatives in this way will enable us to realise mutually beneficial improvements in equality, fairness and wellbeing in workplaces across Wales.
The SPC has achieved a lot in 2025. We consulted the SPC on our legislative priorities, our annual wellbeing objectives and the draft budget for 2026-27. The SPC endorsed the Welsh Government Social Partnership annual report. It has also monitored the progress the UK’s Employment Rights Act and its Industrial Strategy to help better understand their effect here in Wales.
The SPC has setup a sub-group to look at workforce skills in relation to AI and also a sub-group to develop a set of measures to improve fair work through Welsh Government financial support. Great strides have been made to establish the statutory socially responsible procurement sub-group, with its membership currently being finalised.