5. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership: Update on the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:56 pm on 14 September 2021.

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Photo of Hannah Blythyn Hannah Blythyn Labour 4:56, 14 September 2021

Can I thank the Member for her question? And I note that the Member has done a lot of work around the challenges of what digital means for the world of work, the future of work and the pitfalls that that could actually bring as well as potential. We know that, when deployed responsibly, technology can be a force for good; it provides support and flexibility, as we've seen in many cases in the past 18 months during the pandemic, when many of us have had to work differently. Some organisations that have perhaps resisted that change in the past have seen that, actually, people can be as productive when they're working in a different setting. But, like you say, there is the flipside of it when it can be used for different motives.

There are challenges for us, aren't there, because employment law and industrial relations aren't devolved. I think, around what does the future of work mean, what levers do we have and how we can influence, it's the sort of thing that you would probably—. It's not for me to determine what the social partnership council, when hopefully it comes into being, should work on. But future work and the impact of things like digital changes in work patterns and what that work looks like in the future and how it works for workplaces, for workers and for the country as a whole is definitely something that should be on their agenda. And I think, in the meantime, I'd be very happy to perhaps meet with you to learn more about that work and perhaps to start to look at actually what we can be doing now.