8. Will the Minister make a statement on progress in implementing the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015? OAQ(5)0043(FLG)

Good progress is being made in implementing the Act, including, but by no means confined to, the publication of ‘Taking Wales Forward’. This committed us to develop four cross-cutting strategies, guided by our well-being objectives. I will publish the first iteration of the Welsh Ministers’ well-being objectives by 5 November, as the Act requires.

Thank you for that, Cabinet Secretary. I think there’s widespread agreement that this Act is a very important opportunity to help build a better Wales. I wonder whether you could explain some of the linkages between the Welsh Government’s well-being objectives and accompanying statement under the Act, with the programme for government, the four overarching strategies you mentioned, and also the budget.

Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, I was asked questions about this in front of the Finance Committee this morning, where I attempted to set out the way in which the budget has been aligned with the five ways of working that the Act sets out. I won’t repeat them all here, but I hope I was able to show that we have taken a long-term view, balancing the needs of current generations with future generations, that we’ve sought to involve people in the way that we’ve made those decisions, and that, through our budget decisions, and the policies set out in ‘Taking Wales Forward’, the well-being of future generations Act has provided a lens through which we are able to view the actions across the Government as a whole.