And fifthly, we will enact Part 1 of the Equality Act 2010, the socioeconomic duty. We will take the steps required to commence the duty, including new guidance that will be needed to ensure that its implementation is effective and takes full account of the existing Welsh legislative context. We will draw together the relationship between the socioeconomic duty and the social partnership Bill. Both will help to address inequality from different perspectives, and we will ensure that they fully complement each other.

What, then, Dirprwy Lywydd, will all these actions deliver? Well, firstly, they are designed to reverse the decline in collective bargaining. The International Labour Organization, amongst others, has clearly articulated the role that collective bargaining plays in reducing inequality and extending labour protection. We fully endorse the principles set out by the ILO on collective bargaining and freedom of association, and we wish to see these benefits extended to more working people here in Wales.

Secondly, these actions will deliver practical improvements in the workplace. Today, the Minister for Housing and Local Government has issued the Government’s response to the recommendations from the Fair Work Commission. The commission has focused directly on the role of trade unions in the workplace, and the benefits that this can bring to workers. Our approach to fair work will mean new approaches and new actions to drive up the quality of work and access to employment rights.

Thirdly, these actions will bring better outcomes for employers. Because with a committed workforce, encouraged by employers who invest in skills and good management at all levels, we can build a stronger and more resilient economy, with improved productivity, which is fit for the challenges of the future. Social partnership, Dirprwy Lywydd, enables employers to be active partners in changing our economy for the better. And we are fortunate in having many employers here in Wales committed to playing just that part.

Finally, these actions will bring the social partners together in a system that is streamlined, purposeful, and has the powers it needs to translate agreements reached into actions on the ground. By providing the means of monitoring any agreements, we will secure trust and confidence that the investment that partners make leads to tangible outcomes that deliver benefits for all.

Tomorrow, Dirprwy Lywydd, I will chair a meeting that brings together members of the Government, the Workforce Partnership Council executive, and the social partners strategy group. This shadow social partnership council will encourage social partners to engage on the immediate steps we need to take to deliver on the commitments I have outlined this afternoon. That will include discussion of a shared protocol that describes the expectations for Welsh Government, the Wales TUC, and employers on how our engagement will work in practice.

Now, Dirprwy Lywydd, none of this will be easy. Social partnership is the opposite of the confrontational approaches preferred by the Conservative Party whenever they are in Government. But it is also the opposite of problem-avoiding cosiness as well. To succeed in making working life fairer, it requires all partners to be focused on innovation and negotiation. It puts trust, engagement and dialogue at the heart of problem solving—together, the problems that face us all, are best addressed. It is a way, moreover, rooted in both the long collective and co-operative history of Wales and the history we have written here in the far shorter era of devolution. It is an approach, Dirprwy Lywydd, which this Government is determined to strengthen still further and to make it fit for the challenges that the future will provide.