Therefore, item 9 is the Equality Act 2010 (Authorities subject to a duty regarding Socio-economic Inequalities) (Wales) Regulations 2021, and I call on the Deputy Minister and the Chief Whip to move the motion, Jane Hutt. 

Motion NDM7616 Rebecca Evans

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves that the draft The Equality Act 2010 (Authorities subject to a duty regarding Socio-economic Inequalities) (Wales) Regulations 2021 is made in accordance with the draft laid in the Table Office on 9 February 2021.

Motion moved.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Members will be aware that on 15 July 2020 the First Minister, in his legislative programme statement, announced that the socioeconomic duty was one of five areas for delivery before the end of this Senedd term. This is one of our levers to reduce inequality, and I'm pleased that today we're able to debate the regulations laid before Members of the Senedd, which are a key part of delivering this commitment. If passed, the regulations will place a duty on certain public bodies, requiring them when making strategic decisions, such as deciding priorities and setting objectives, to consider how their decisions might help to reduce inequalities associated with socioeconomic disadvantage. The regulations before you simply list the Welsh public bodies who are captured by the duty, so the definition of a relevant authority means I'm restricted as to which public bodies the duty can apply. However, I have captured every public body that falls inside this definition, ensuring maximum benefit to the people of Wales. The duty also links to plans for the draft social partnership and public procurement (Wales) Bill, which is out for consultation. Both pieces of legislation seek to strengthen our social partnership arrangements and fair work agenda, as both help to address inequality from different perspectives. 

Thank you. I call on the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, Mick Antoniw.

Thank you, Dirprwy Lywydd. We considered these regulations on 1 March and our report contains two merits points, which I'll briefly summarise for Members this afternoon.

Our first merits point noted that there is no equality impact assessment for the regulations and we asked the Welsh Government to explain what arrangements it has made to publish a report of such an assessment, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 (Statutory Duties) (Wales) Regulations 2011. In response to our first merits point, the Welsh Government confirmed that a full integrated impact assessment on the regulations has been completed. Furthermore, the Government's response also confirmed that sections 1, 3, and 7 of the integrated impact assessment were published on the Welsh Government website on 23 February, and a summary of the equality impact assessment can be found in section 7.2. The Welsh Government also told us that the remaining sections of the integrated impact assessment are routinely made available on request.

Our second merits point related to the post-implementation review of regulations, and we highlighted that the regulatory impact assessment accompanying the regulations states that given the multiple outcomes anticipated as a result of the socioeconomic duty, a programme of monitoring and evaluation will be developed to correspond with key activities. Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.

Thank you. I call on the Deputy Minister and Chief Whip to reply.

Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you very much to the Chair of the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee for the report on the merits. He was able to answer the points that were made in terms of your questions relating to the integrated impact assessment, and what the impact of that work would be in terms of guidance, in terms of publishing those sections that summarised what action the Welsh Government is considering. And I'd also say that we will continue to support public bodies after the duty comes into force.

So, commencing the duty of course will take us forward in terms of the non-statutory guidance that we published last year. A substantial package of support has been prepared for public bodies for the duty and some are already working in the way intended, so I'm therefore asking Members to support this motion.

Thank you. The proposal is to agree the motion. Does any Member object? [Objection.] I do see objections, therefore, we vote on this item in voting time.

Voting deferred until voting time.