I should start by saying that this has been a complex inquiry. The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 affects all public services in Wales, and different public bodies face different challenges. There might be one thing that makes it difficult for health boards to implement the Act, but that same thing might not affect local authorities. We had to take a step back and look at the bigger picture: what barriers were common to most, if not all, public services, and what fundamental problems lay behind everyone's efforts to implement the Act?

The Act is broad, holistic, and no single public body will be able to realise any of the seven well-being goals alone. Public bodies have come together to make the Act work. Many organisations and individuals have responsibilities under the Act, including the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, who both promotes the Act and helps public bodies implement it. We wanted to find out whether the commissioner was doing her job effectively, and whether the Welsh Government itself was leading on implementing the legislation and taking public bodies on a journey that requires a significant change in mindset and culture. 

The Public Accounts Committee led this work because our remit is broad, and that enables us to consider such cross-cutting legislation that has an impact on every aspect of Welsh Government business. So, what did we find out about the first five years of the implementation of the Act? Well, we found the Welsh Government and public bodies got off to a slow start, and not all of those public bodies prioritised implementing the Act. Many public bodies told us about the impact of austerity on their capacity to fulfil their statutory duties, let alone implement aspirational legislation such as this Act. We concluded that public bodies do not need more funding to implement the Act, which is about doing things differently, and not doing extra things. However, we do believe that, by adopting the five ways of working, public bodies will meet their sustainable development duty and will have the potential to work more economically, efficiently and effectively. 

We were pleased to find the Welsh Government and other public bodies are now making progress. Government policy is now resonating more strongly with the principles of sustainable development, but there is still more to do. We also heard that, in responding to the pandemic, barriers to collaboration, integration and involvement—three of the five ways of working, as they're termed—have been broken down. We have reason to believe that this has been a catalyst for cultural change. We encourage public bodies to retain this progress as they shift their focus from the day to day to the longer term and beyond, as we begin our recovery from the pandemic. 

We directed most of our recommendations to the Welsh Government, because it is ultimately responsible for ensuring that this legislation is implemented successfully. The Welsh Government, we decided, needs to be an exemplar in its leadership, and to set the tone and direction for progressive and successful implementation of the Act. We made 14 recommendations, some of which I would like to highlight today.

The Welsh Government must ensure that all of its future policy and legislation is consistent with the Act. It must stop creating more partnership bodies and new reporting requirements spread across legislation and statutory guidance. The public sector landscape has become unnecessarily bureaucratic and confusing, which has been a major barrier to the implementation of this Act. We've recommended the Welsh Government publish guidance, setting out clearly how the key partnership bodies should work within the framework of this Act, and how bureaucracy and duplication can be reduced. 

We've also recommended that Welsh Government reconsider its approach to funding public services boards. We do not believe that public bodies should be getting additional funding. However, we do think that financial contributions to public services boards could be formalised to give clarity over what resources they have available. We acknowledge the Deputy Minister's written statement of 19 February on 'Shaping Wales' Future: Delivering National Well-being Milestones and National Well-being Indicators and a report on Wales' future'. This was issued three weeks after we scrutinised the Welsh Government in committee, and commits to taking forward some vital areas of work under this Act. These were also areas that arose in evidence, and we were pleased the Welsh Government has responded. We've recommended that the Welsh Government carries out a review of which public bodies are subject to the Act, how it can provide longer term financial security to public bodies, and better frame its remit letters for sponsored bodies around the Act.

However, it is not only the Welsh Government that must do better. We encourage the future generations commissioner and public bodies to continue to develop constructive relationships to fully utilise the work and expertise of the commissioner and her office. We also stress the importance of the commissioner prioritising support for public bodies and public services boards in delivering the legislation. And finally, to complete the audit cycle, the Auditor General for Wales should raise his expectations of public bodies and highlight, where appropriate, poor adoption of the Act. 

This has been a long, challenging but—and I think I can say this on behalf of all members of the committee—a rewarding inquiry. I look forward to hearing Members' contributions to the debate today, and I hope that the debate continues long into the future so that this important legislation remains at the forefront of public policy and ultimately delivers its intent. I look forward to Members' contributions in today's debate.