General Overview of the Act Part 1 .The Social Partnership Council 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.