Part 2 – Social Partnership and Sustainable Development.Introduction
45.Section 2 of the 2015 Act defines “sustainable development” as the process of improving the economic, social and environmental and cultural well-being of Wales by taking action, in accordance with the sustainable development principle, aimed at achieving the well-being goals set out in section 4 of that Act. Section 3 of the 2015 Act requires public bodies to carry out sustainable development. In fulfilling this duty, they must set and publish well-being objectives. These are objectives designed to maximize a body’s contribution to the achieving each of the well-being goals. Public bodies must take all reasonable steps, in exercising their functions, to meet their objectives.
46.Part 2 introduces a social partnership duty on public bodies and a separate but similar social partnership duty on the Welsh Ministers. The social partnership duties apply when a public body is carrying out sustainable development in accordance with the 2015 Act, and will ensure that when making key strategic decisions in pursuit of improved well-being in Wales under the 2015 Act, public bodies are fully and properly informed by the experience and knowledge of their staff and (for the Welsh Ministers) by the views of social partners in Wales as represented by the SPC.
47.Public bodies are subject to an annual reporting requirement and a requirement to submit the reports to the SPC.
48.Part 2 also amends the well-being goals by substituting the reference to “decent work” within the “A prosperous Wales” goal with “fair work”.
Section 15 - Overview of Part and interpretation
49.Section 15 provides an overview of Part 2 of the Act.
50.Subsections (2) and (3) define “sustainable development” and “
Section 16 – Social partnership duty
51.Section 16(1) imposes the social partnership duty on each specified public body. That duty is, in so far as is reasonable, to ‘seek consensus or compromise’ with its recognised trade unions (or where there is none such with other representatives of its staff) when taking specified actions.
52.The duty applies when a public body is setting its well-being objectives under section 3(2)(a) of the 2015 Act and when it is taking decisions of a strategic nature about the reasonable steps it needs to take to meet those objectives in accordance with section 3(2)(b) of the 2015 Act. It does not apply to the day- to-day decisions of a public body.
53.Section 16(2) sets out a number of specific procedural requirements relating to the social partnership duty, which a public body must comply with when ‘seeking consensus or compromise’. The procedural requirements set out are intended to ensure that trade unions or other representatives of the staff of public bodies are fully and properly involved in setting objectives or making other strategic decisions relating to sustainable development. The duty to share and consult on sufficient information at a formative stage of the process and to allow sufficient time for proposals to be considered by trade unions or other staff representatives is the minimum expected of a process of genuine engagement. These requirements will promote a more consistent and collaborative approach to strategic decision-making by public bodies, in turn ensuring that objectives set and key decisions made by public bodies properly takes account of the views, knowledge and experiences of that body’s workforce.
Section 17 – Social Partnership duty: Welsh Ministers
54.Section 17(1) provides that the Welsh Ministers must consult with the SPC when they are taking decisions of a strategic nature about the reasonable steps to take to meet their well-being objectives in accordance with section 3(2)(b) of the 2015 Act. It does not apply to day- to-day decisions taken by the Welsh Ministers.
Section 18 – Social partnership reports
55.Section 18 provides that a public body must prepare and publish an annual report and submit it to the SPC. The report must be agreed with the public body’s recognised trade unions (or where there is no recognised trade union) other representatives of its staff; or contain a statement explaining why it was not agreed.
Section 19 – Social partnership reports: Welsh Ministers
56.Section 19 provides that the Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish an annual report. This must be submitted to the SPC and laid before the Senedd. The report must be agreed with the SPC or contain a statement explaining why it was not agreed.
Section 20 - Fair Work
57.Section 20 amends the description of the “A Prosperous Wales” well-being goal in section 4 of the 2015 Act by substituting “fair work” for “decent work”. This amendment will result in a requirement that public bodies consider fair work when setting and taking action to meet objectives designed to maximise their contribution to achieving the “A prosperous Wales” well-being goal.
