Public Sector Future Workforce Forum meeting: 11 November 2025

1. Helen Arthur (Chair) welcomed members to the first meeting of the Public Sector Future Workforce Forum (PSFWF) outlining the process that led to the creation of the Forum. Helen explained that this involved 2 groups meeting throughout the summer; the Task and Finish Group acted as an initial sounding board for ideas whilst the Transition Board endorsed papers and proposals for further consideration by the PSFWF. She emphasised that both operated in social partnership with the latter comprising of former WPC members.

2. The Chair outlined the draft mission statement and operating principles for the PSFWF, explaining that both had been initially endorsed by the Transition Board. The forum agreed these subject to the following changes:

• Use the phrase bring together rather than unite in the mission statement for clarity and consistency with the operating principles.
• Change influencing policy development to influencing relevant policy development in both the mission statement and principles.
• Welsh Government to be explicitly referenced with other social partners listed in both the mission statement and the principles.
• Remove TUC Cymru in the mission statement and principles as they will be covered by the general reference to trade unions.
• Make clear that the reference to workforce matters in both the mission statement and principles means current and future workforce matters.

Action

The PSFWF Support Team to make the agreed changes to the mission statement and principles and then upload both documents to the forum’s website.

3. The Chair stressed the importance of agreeing the terms of reference (ToR) for the PSFWF now that it was operational. She confirmed they had been initially agreed by the Transition Board and provided more detail on how the forum (including its working groups) would be constituted, as well as the role and behaviours expected of members. The Chair explained they would be reviewed as the PSFWF evolved to ensure they remained fit for purpose.

4. The PSFWF agreed the ToR subject to a small amendment to include the full name of the Social Partnership Council rather than just its abbreviation (SPC). In the ToR, the criteria for selecting areas for consideration by the forum referenced the need for any subject to have cross sectoral relevance and clarity was sought over what this meant in practice. The Chair explained that a subject would need to have a broader significance across the public sector as a whole and could not be sector specific.

5. Members agreed the ToR including the proposed annual meeting schedule for the PSFWF.

Action

The PSFWF Support Team to amend the terms of reference and then arrange for these to be uploaded to the forum’s website.

6. The Chair stressed the importance of agreeing a work programme for the PSFWF. There were 2 items to consider from the extant work of the WPC: piloting the AI guidance and supporting the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan and a fresh proposal endorsed by the Transition Board, violence and harassment at work.

7. The Chair explained that the first element of the WPC’s extant work was piloting its guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) with a public sector body. She explained that attempts, to date, to identify a volunteer had been unsuccessful, however the guidance had been widely disseminated and promoted through webinars and meetings. On this basis she asked if the action could be closed.

8. The forum felt that further attempts should be made to pilot the AI guidance. Discussions covered the possibility of piloting with a specific department within a local authority or identifying an opportunity within Health. Helen Arthur and Samantha Morgan offered to raise this at the NHS Welsh Partnership Forum and report back to the PSFWF. Alison Standfast explained that Qualifications Wales were at an early stage in their journey of implementing AI but could consider it if they were approached at a later stage in the process. She asked for clarity on whether piloting should be focussed on a specific area of AI or take the form of a general update on how this technology was being implemented.

9. Stephen Layne suggested developing a strong case study to demonstrate how the guidance could work in practice. Mark Turner said the Social Care Wales Workforce Strategy Development Stakeholder Group were doing a piece of work on digital skills and felt it might be worth exploring piloting options with them. Sharon Davies also said she would explore piloting options with the Association of Directors of Education in Wales (ADEW). Reg Kilpatrick raised the importance of ensuring the guidance was still timely given the pace at which AI was moving.

10. Dr Philippa Collins said it would be helpful to have a further conversation with members regarding the guidance. She stressed the value of receiving information on how organisations had implemented the guidance into their policies/practices through social partnership. Dr Collins added that the creation of the forum offered the opportunity to consider this issue with a fresh perspective with the possibility of linking up with other bodies such as the Welsh Government’s Office for AI.

11. The Chair asked members to consider potential pilot opportunities within their sectors and to consider any broader examples that demonstrated how the guidance had been adopted. This would then be fed back to a future meeting of the Forum.

12. Moving to the second element of the WPC’s extant work, the Chair explained support for the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan (ArWAP) was previously part of the equalities strand of the WPC and she asked about future work which could be explored in this area. In the summer, the Transition Board had distributed the ArWAP maturity matrix to public bodies and responses were being fed back to Welsh Government HR. She suggested it would be useful for the PSFWF to receive updates on this going forward. The Chair explained that there was also a proposal to repurpose the Welsh Government’s Senior Civil Service guidance on anti-racism so that it could be used as a benchmark for the public sector.

13. Laura Doel supported the ArWAP work but felt the ask on organisations needed clarifying.

14. Dom Houlihan outlined the leadership chapter of the ArWAP. Dom explained that the maturity matrix exercise had provided a lot of useful information but that it would be important to ask public bodies what more could be done to further the plan’s objectives and bring public leaders together to develop a cohesive approach. Dom confirmed all public bodies had been invited to a symposium on the ArWAP (27 November, Cardiff City Stadium).

15. Stephen Layne outlined a range of cross sectoral areas the PSFWF could consider under the wider equalities’ remit. This included embedding the social model of disability/reasonable adjustments, pay gaps, and mental/physical health in workplaces all of which impacted on service delivery, wellbeing, and equality.

16. The Chair added that a third potential area of focus that had been proposed was violence and harassment in the workplace. This had been raised at a roundtable event on the 7 April and subsequently supported by the Task and Finish Group and the Transition Board. Given the remaining time left in the meeting she offered to work with Dom Houlihan to narrow down a set of potential objectives that would add the most value.

17. Sharon West suggested a further meeting be held before the next PSFWF to scope areas of focus for the work programme and that this could be held with a sample of forum members rather than the whole membership. This was accepted by members.

Action

PSFWF Support Team to seek expressions of interest from members to attend a meeting to discuss areas of focus for the forum’s work programme.

Action

The PSFWF to consider any options within their networks for piloting the WPC’s AI guidance and feed these back to the Support Team.

18. The Chair explained that by having a dedicated research capacity the PSFWF would be able to make evidence-based decisions that would strengthen the quality of the forum’s work. She invited Dr Philippa Collins, as its author, to provide an outline of the proposal to the PSFWF.

19. Dr Collins explained that the proposal recommended creating a network of knowledge exchange and public policy specialists within academia. Their role would be to connect the PSFWF with relevant research activities and expertise within their own universities/institutions. Philippa said the network, which would primarily operate online, could then be engaged on a specific piece of work and used to access existing research in that area. The network would be reviewed over time to ensure it was operating effectively.

20. In response to a point raised about the PSFWF being able to draw on work outside of academia, Dr Collins said the research proposal was iterative and could consider broader expertise where necessary. She offered to talk further with members outside of the meeting about the research proposal.

21. The forum agreed the research proposal including the recommended next steps contained in the paper for this item.

Action

The PSFWF Support Team to contact different academic institutions to establish the knowledge network in consultation with Dr Philippa Collins.

Action

The PSFWF Support Team to arrange an in-person briefing event with knowledge network members and representatives of the forum.

22. The Chair explained that the Transition Board had agreed a website for the PSFWF when it met throughout the summer. She said that in addition to housing all the forum’s papers, reports and minutes the website would also host an integrated Resource Centre; this would provide easy access to best practice, toolkits and other practical resources for the public sector workforce.

23. The Chair confirmed anything being added to the centre would need to be agreed by the PSFWF and assurances were offered that it would not duplicate existing learning platforms used by different sectors. She emphasised the importance of agreeing which WPC agreements and reports would need to be migrated from the former council’s website to the forum’s new site.

24. The Support Team explained that links had been provided to the WPC’s agreements and reports in the related paper and that if it helped, members could indicate their preferences for which documents to migrate via email.

25. The PSFWF concluded that in the first instance all the WPC’s agreements and reports should be migrated to the new site and that over time members could then consider whether any needed to be removed. It would then be for the forum to agree any proposed removals.

Action

The PSFWF Support Team to upload all the WPC’s previous agreements and reports to the forum’s new website.

Action

Members of the forum to consider whether any documents need to be removed from the site in due course. Anything selected would need to be agreed by the PSFWF.

26. The Support Team outlined the draft Communication’s Plan for the PSFWF designed to target relevant audiences with consistent messaging regarding milestones, activity updates and upcoming events. The Team confirmed a distinct brand had also been developed for the forum to serve as a visual representation of its social partnership ethos. Liz Rogers (Welsh Ambulance Services Trust) and the Support Team would continue to lead this work whilst agreeing the different stages with the PSFWF. As part of the Communication Plan, the Support Team asked the forum if they were content to receive written updates after each meeting which members could then share through their networks as a roundup of key updates to promote valuable work; this would be instead of a newsletter.

27. The PSFWF agreed the approach that had been outlined feeling it was a more flexible way of consistently communicating the forum’s work.

28. Alison Standfast recommended training could be used to support consistent messaging and good practice across the public sector. Alison suggested that Academi Wales could be engaged for this purpose.

29. Dom Houlihan welcomed this approach as the lead official for Academi Wales. Dom said he would explore further with his colleagues and then provide an update to members.

Action

Dom Houlihan to discuss with Academi Wales how they could support messaging and best practice through the public sector and provide an update to the PSFWF.

30. No issues were raised under AOB.

• Helen Arthur (Chair) - Welsh Government
• Reg Kilpatrick - Welsh Government
• Georgina Haarhoff - Welsh Government
• Stephen Layne - Welsh Government
• Sian Boyles - PCS (Trade Union)
• Mark Turner - Unison (Trade Union)
• Laura Doel - NAHT (Trade Union)
• Ceri Williams (Deputy for Nicky Hughes) - TUC Cymru (Trade Union)
• Alison Standfast - Qualifications Wales (Employer)
• Sharon Davies - WLGA (Employer)
• Alyson Watkins (Deputy for Karen Higgins) - WLGA (Employer)
• Dom Houlihan - Devolved Services Group (Employer)
• Samantha Morgan - NHS (Employer).

Apologies

• Karen Higgins - WLGA (Employer)
• Tom Hoyles - GMB (Trade Union)
• Nicky Hughes - RCN (Trade Union)

Other

• Sharon West - Welsh Government
• Zoe Holland - Welsh Government
• Dr Philippa Collins - Bristol University (guest speaker)

Support Team

• Mark Lewis - Welsh Government
• Rachel Loveridge - Welsh Government
• Jessica Khoshooee - Welsh Government
• Beca ap Robert - Welsh Government