Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023

34 Social public workforce clauses in subcontracts

(1) Subsection (2) applies if a contracting authority intends to include social public workforce clauses in an outsourcing services contract it agrees with an economic operator (a “contractor”) (the authority having considered whether to do so in accordance with section 26(1)(b)).

(2) The authority must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the obligations in the social public workforce clauses are implemented where the contractor enters into a subcontract with any other economic operator (a “subcontractor”).

(3) Examples of the reasonable steps that could be taken under subsection (2) include—

(a) ensuring that social public workforce clauses having the same or substantially the same effect as those in the outsourcing services contract are included in any subcontract—

(i) the contractor enters into with a subcontractor, and

(ii) the subcontractor enters into with a subsequent contractor (and so on);

(b) ensuring that the contracting authority may enforce the obligations in social public workforce clauses under the outsourcing services contract or under a subcontract;

(c) requiring the contractor to obtain the contracting authority’s consent before entering into a subcontract, with consent being made conditional upon social public workforce clauses having the same or substantially the same effect as those included in the outsourcing services contract being included in any subcontract;

(d) requiring the contractor to inform the contracting authority if it intends to enter into a subcontract which does not include social public workforce clauses having the same or substantially the same effect as those included in the outsourcing services contract;

(e) requiring the contractor to monitor the extent any obligations in social public workforce clauses are implemented where the contractor has entered into a subcontract with any other economic operator.