Sections 23 and24– Future Generations report and activity during the reporting period
96.Section 23 requires the Commissioner to prepare a report detailing the improvements public bodies should make in order to set and meet their well-being objectives in a manner that is consistent with the sustainable development principle.
97.The Commissioner must publish this report before the end of the reporting period. The ‘reporting period’ runs from the day after the Welsh Ministers publish their future trends report under section 11of the Act until the day one year and one day before the planned date of the next ordinary general election of the Assembly. The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations, amend the definition of the reporting period.
98.This report must include an assessment of how public bodies should better safeguard the ability of future generations to meet their needs and better consider the long-term impact of what they do. The report must also provide a summary of the evidence gathered and the activities undertaken by the Commissioner during the reporting period, a summary of reviews conducted in the reporting period, as well as the actions the Commissioner has undertaken in exercising their functions.
99.The Commissioner must send a copy of the report to the Welsh Ministers who must lay a copy before the National Assembly.
100.The Commissioner must consult with those people listed under section 24(1), as well as anyone else she or he considers appropriate, to ensure that economic, social, environmental and cultural interests are fully represented, during the reporting period and before publishing the Future Generations Report.
101.When preparing her or his Future Generations Report the Commissioner must take into account:
the responses of those people she or he consulted under section 24 (1);
the most recent future trends report prepared by the Welsh Ministers under section 11 of the Act; and
any relevant reports of the Auditor General for Wales.
