Dirprwy Lywydd, throughout the devolution period, the Welsh approach to engagement with trade unions and employers has been defined by partnership. Indeed, our ability to navigate the global crisis of 2008, and the subsequent imposition of austerity, has been predicated on our model of social partnership, and the recognition that meaningful tripartite involvement is fundamental to delivering progressive outcomes and preventing conflict and dispute. A decade into unremitting public expenditure retrenchment, however, the present model has reached the limits of its effectiveness. The time has come to develop it still further in order to tackle the social and economic challenges facing Wales today.

These new advances will build firmly on the social partnership record across legislation, policy and investment. From restoring sectoral bargaining via the agricultural advisory panel, to introducing the code of practice on ethical employment in the supply chain, we have worked creatively to deliver more protection and a greater voice for working people in Wales. Earlier in this Assembly term, I was proud to take the landmark Trade Union (Wales) Bill through this National Assembly, rolling back UK legislation designed to strip away the rights of public service workers.

The ongoing nature of the challenges we face is well known. The growth of in-work poverty, false self-employment and compulsory zero-hours contracts have a corrosive effect on the health and well-being of too many people in Wales. What is more, these unfair practices serve only to deepen existing inequalities in our society, as those with the least power in the workplace are affected most. And, Dirprwy Lywydd, they sharply disadvantage those many socially responsible and committed businesses that find themselves at risk of unfair competition from less scrupulous employers.

These are challenges, moreover, that face us today find new forms in our own time. The advent of automation and digital platforms have proven how easily the burden of risk can be shifted onto workers without the protection afforded by conventional employment relationships, and how small businesses on the high street can find themselves undercut by tax-avoiding multinational organisations operating beyond our borders.

What, then, Dirprwy Lywydd, do we now plan to do? Well, firstly, we will put social partnership on a statutory footing by bringing forward a Bill in this Assembly term. That Bill will enshrine the current non-statutory social partnership model and ensure that the agreements reached are clearly enforceable. The Wales TUC have made some specific proposals about how best to deliver this, and we will discuss these proposals with the other social partners over the coming months.

Secondly, we will use the power of the public purse to deliver new social benefits through enhancing the return we receive from those who receive public funding from us via the economic contract. We will scale up best practice learned through the Better Jobs Closer to Home pilots, and we will embed fair work through public procurement and by taking forward our new and innovative approach to the foundational economy.

Thirdly, we will create an effective system of monitoring and enforcement. There are a number of existing agreements that have been reached in social partnership, such as the two tier code. While we have systems in place to monitor their implementation, we know that those systems can be improved, and we lack sufficient means of enforcement when breaches of those codes occur.

Fourthly, we will put in place new machinery of government to underpin the work of social partners. We will implement the recommendations of the Fair Work Commission to establish an office for fair work. The practical plans to set up a directorate within the civil service are already in place, with the head of that unit already out to advert.