5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government: Working in Partnership for a Fair Work Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:23 pm on 9 February 2021.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 5:23, 9 February 2021

Just on that line, I think it's absolutely imperative, not just for individual workers but for workplaces across Wales, to ensure that those rights are enshrined and are top of the agenda, and to support both workers to be more aware of their rights and how to implement them and also to support businesses to know their responsibilities as well, which is why it's been central to our workplace rights and responsibilities campaign, which we're hoping now to go to the next stage and then actually to look to put it on a more permanent footing so that advice and support is available. 

The Member came in on the role that we have—he was talking about the levers we have at our disposal in Wales in order to drive forward that fair work agenda and see a real difference not just in principle, but in practice. Clearly, procurement is one of the levers we do have there. So, as part of the proposed social partnership Bill that we will be consulting on—we start the consultation later this month—it will include a focus on socially responsible procurement and actually how we build on things that are already there—the rise in support and things like community benefits—to actually make sure that procurement is a key driver to enshrine fair work in everything we do within Wales. Obviously, the social partnership council will be central to making sure that we take the experiences of workers and of businesses to make sure that we can work together collaboratively and with consensus to take forward that fair work agenda in Wales to actually really start to make a difference—or to make a bigger difference—on the ground when it comes to people actually having not just fair work and pay and protections, but actually the opportunity to progress within the workplace right across Wales.