Part 1 .The Social Partnership Council
Section 1 – Social Partnership Council for Wales
5.Section 1 establishes the Social Partnership Council for Wales (“
6.The SPC’s core function is to provide information and advice to the Welsh Ministers on certain matters. This function is wider than merely advising the Welsh Ministers and could include the creation or provision of, among other things, statistics, factual summaries, copies of documents (whether publicly available or otherwise) and so on. There is no explicit restriction on the type of information or advice that the SPC can provide.
7.The purposes for which the SPC may provide information and advice to the Welsh Ministers are to enhance the four types of well-being (economic, environmental, social, and cultural) promoted by the Well-being and Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015 (“
8.The SPC may provide information and advice on, essentially, those matters dealt with by the Act:
the social partnership duties under Part 2 of the Act;
the pursuit of the “A Prosperous Wales” well-being goal by public bodies when carrying out sustainable development under the 2015 Act;
the functions conferred on contracting authorities and the Welsh Ministers under Part 3 (socially responsible procurement).
In relation to (b), the SPC’s remit includes the “pursuit” of the “A Prosperous Wales” goal by all bodies required to carry out sustainable development under section 3 of the 2015 Act. For example, the SPC would be able to provide information or advice to the Welsh Ministers about activity they were taking to improve the economic well-being of Wales if that activity was linked to the “A Prosperous Wales” goal.
9.The Act provides for flexibility as to how SPC advice or provision of information is instigated (it can be initiated by either the SPC itself or the Welsh Ministers). The SPC is therefore able to act on its own initiative if it becomes aware of a topic in relation to which it determines it should provide information or advice. Where information or advice is requested from the SPC by the Welsh Ministers, it must be provided as soon as reasonably practicable.
Section 2 – Membership of the Social Partnership Council for Wales
10.Section 2 provides that the SPC will ordinarily be chaired by the First Minister of Wales and consist of three types of members – Welsh Government members (who could be any of the Welsh Ministers or Deputy Welsh Ministers, the Counsel General or any member of staff of the Welsh Government), nine representatives of employers in Wales and nine representatives of workers in Wales.
11.There is no numerical limit on the number of Welsh Government members of the SPC which will allow for different individuals to attend the SPC at different times. Which individuals act as Welsh Government members at a particular meeting of the SPC is to be determined by the First Minister.
12.Both the employer and worker representatives will be appointed by the First Minister. The fact that there will be an equal number of employer and worker representatives reflects the collaborative nature of social partnership and the equality of employer and worker representatives in the process of advising the Welsh Ministers.
13.Section 2(4) requires the First Minister to take all reasonable steps to appoint nine employer and nine worker representatives within six months of section 2(4) itself coming into force.
14.Section 2(5) provides that the SPC is a collective group that can only act jointly in its functions. Therefore, members cannot individually perform the functions of the SPC, this must be done jointly with each other member. This approach reflects the collaborative nature of social partnership.
Sections 3 and 4 – Employer and worker representatives
15.These sections make provision about who can be appointed as an employer or worker representative by the First Minister. Employer representatives must be individuals that the First Minister considers represent certain categories of employer in Wales as specified in section 3. Worker representatives must be individuals the First Minister considers represent staff working for employers in each of those categories in Wales.
16.The First Minister’s discretion in appointing individuals is broad in that the only requirement for appointment is that the First Minister has formed a view that a particular individual represents relevant organisations or staff (as the case may be). However, this discretion is, in practice, significantly curtailed by the nomination process contained in section five.
17.Employer and worker representatives carry out their role as individuals, regardless of their connection with any organisation external to the SPC (e.g. a public body or a trade union).
18.It is intended that employer and worker representatives will be able to represent a wide variety of constituencies and perspectives.
Section 5 - Nomination of appointed members
19.Section 5(1) provides that, before appointing employer representatives the First Minister must seek nominations from organisations the First Minister considers represent the views of each category of employers to be represented by employer representatives. However, the First Minister is not obliged to accept nominations for employee representatives and may appoint one or more individuals not so nominated.
20.The First Minister must have regard to any nominations made when appointing employer representatives. This will ensure that a wide range of organisations in both the private and public sectors can influence the appointment of employer representatives to the SPC.
21.Section 5(2) provides that before appointing worker representatives, the First Minister must seek nominations from Wales TUC Cymru.
22.The First Minister may only appoint worker representatives who have been nominated by Wales TUC Cymru. This will ensure that worker representatives are genuinely representative of the collective experience of the workforce.
23.However, the First Minister is not obliged to appoint all or any individual nominated by Wales TUC Cymru to be a worker representative. Therefore, the First Minister could decide not to appoint one or more Wales TUC Cymru nominees and ask for others to be nominated.
24.The intention is create a diverse group by providing for a wide range of employers and workers to be represented on the SPC.
Section 6 - Duration of appointments
25.This section provides that employer or worker representatives are appointed for three years unless either the First Minister terminates their appointment or they resign by notifying the First Minister.
26.The legislation does not prevent the First Minister re-appointing an individual to the SPC or representatives serving consecutive terms.
27.The section also requires that the First Minister must fill any representative vacancy as soon as reasonably practicable. This provision will minimise disruption to the work of the SPC and ensure that, as far as possible, numerical parity is maintained between employer and worker representatives.
Section 7- Meetings, procedures and administrative support
28.This section deals with the operation of the SPC. It specifies certain procedures – the frequency of meetings, the chairing of the SPC by the First Minister where possible and arrangements where this is not possible. In circumstances where the SPC is not to be chaired by the First Minister, the SPC will be chaired by another Welsh Minister or Deputy Minister nominated by the First Minister.
29.It also requires that the Welsh Ministers specify and publish all other procedures to be followed by the SPC, together with the quorum for SPC meetings, within six months of section 7(4) coming into force. The publishing of the SPC’s procedures will ensure the greatest possible transparency. The Welsh Ministers may, having consulted with the SPC, amend any of the procedures they have specified and any amendments must be published.
30.The section also specifies matters which the procedures to be published by the Welsh Ministers must deal with and requires the Welsh Ministers to provide administrative support to the SPC.
31.The intention is to provide for a basic framework of procedures without being so prescriptive as to impair the flexibility of the SPC’s work.
Section 8 – Subgroups
32.Section 8 provides the SPC with the power to create subgroups to carry out its functions or assist it in doing so. Each subgroup must be chaired by a member of the SPC but may include both SPC members and other individuals as members. A subgroup may only exercise functions or aspects of functions that have been delegated to it by the SPC. There is no limit to the number of subgroups the SPC may create.
33.The possibility of including non-SPC representatives as members of subgroups will allow subgroups to draw on the maximum possible range of expertise and knowledge. Among other things, subgroups could be used by the SPC to ensure its functions are carried out more efficiently, to provide advice to the Welsh Ministers on a discreet issue or to ensure that its functions can be carried out in the periods between meetings of the full SPC.
34.Although a subgroup will only be able to exercise those functions delegated to it by the SPC, there is no restriction on which functions of the SPC can be delegated. As a result, SPC subgroups may produce information or advice to the Welsh Ministers in much the same way as the SPC itself (provided the relevant functions have been properly delegated).
Section 9 – Public procurement subgroup
35.This section requires the SPC to take all reasonable steps to establish a specific subgroup concerned with public procurement within six months of section 9(1) coming into force. It further requires that the Welsh Ministers specify and publish the quorum for the public procurement subgroup meetings, produce guidance to which the SPC must have regard when appointing members including guidance for the purpose of ensuring its membership is appropriately representative and the procedures to be followed during meetings.
36.The section also sets out specific matters which the procedures to be published by the Welsh Ministers must deal with, these are the same as those covered in the procedures which are specified and published in relation to the full SPC. The procedures for the subgroup can be revised in the same way as SPC procedures. The intention, as with the SPC, is to balance consistency with flexibility.
37.As with other subgroups, the members of the public procurement subgroup may consist of both members from the SPC and other individuals but must be chaired by a member of the SPC.
Section 10 - Provision of information and advice to the SPC by public procurement subgroup
38.This section sets out the functions of the public procurement subgroup which are to provide information or advice to the SPC about the functions placed on contracting authorities and the Welsh Ministers under the socially responsible procurement duties set out in Part 3 of the Act. If the Welsh Ministers request information or advice from the SPC about such matters, the SPC must seek this from the public procurement subgroup and provide it to the Welsh Ministers as soon as reasonably practicable.
39.In addition, this section provides for the revision of information and advice by the SPC, before it is sent to the Welsh Ministers.
40.Where the Welsh Ministers consult the SPC subgroup under sections 30 or 36 of the Act, the public procurement subgroup must provide information and advice that it considers appropriate as soon as reasonably practicable.
41.The Welsh Ministers may consult directly with the public procurement subgroup under sections 30(2)(d) or 36(2)(d) (that is in relation to notifications provided by contracting authorities in connection with social public works clauses received under section 29 or social public workforce clauses received under section 35), in which event the public procurement subgroup must provide the information or advice as soon as reasonably practicable.
Section 11 & 12 – Meeting remotely and expenses
42.Section 11 allows the SPC or an SPC subgroup to hold meetings remotely, for example via the internet or telephone. These provisions will increase the flexibility of the SPC and enable it to carry out its functions effectively.
43.Section 12 enables the Welsh Ministers to meet the expenses of SPC employer and worker representatives as well as members of subgroups. Such payments would be subject to any relevant policies or procedures put in place by the Welsh Ministers.
Section 13 – Supplementary powers
44.This section provides the SPC with supplementary powers. These are exercisable both in relation to its own functions or the functions of a subgroup.
