Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Housing and Local Government – in the Senedd at 2:39 pm on 9 October 2019.
Can I just say, I'm not focused on trying to specify what good leadership looks like, but more how we develop good leadership. And in my professional background, it was a betrayal of people, from the lowest positions to the highest positions, if we didn't have a performance management system in place that was entirely interactive, and which respected people and agreed ways forward, so that they could develop professionally, individually and contribute accordingly.
In developing a similar theme, this week the Auditor General for Wales has produced a report on public services boards, stating they need to start thinking and acting differently and to be given the freedom to work more flexibly. Of course, the boards were set up by the Welsh Government under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 to improve the well-being of communities, but he said they're unlikely to realise their potential unless changes are introduced. Again, how would you respond to the recommendations made, which included that the Welsh Government should enable public services boards to develop flexible models of working, including merging, reducing and integrating their work with other forums, such as regional partnership boards, and giving them flexibility to receive, manage and spend grant moneys; improving transparency and accountability by making public services board meetings, agendas, papers and minutes accessible and available to the public; and that public services boards and public bodies should use the findings of an earlier auditor general discussion paper on effective scrutiny to strengthen oversight arrangements in activity? I hope you'll agree with me that this ties in with the first question, because effective management at every level would require this sort of change in management approach.