General Overview of the Act 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”.