Welcome back, and the next item is a statement by the Minister for Social Justice on the well-being of future generations national implementation. I call on the Minister for Social Justice to make the statement. Jane Hutt.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. Sustainable development has been at the heart of devolution in Wales right from the start. In 2015, this Parliament made a historic decision to change the course of Wales onto a more sustainable path by passing the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. This reflected the tireless effort by people from across Wales to strengthen the way in which Wales's future is shaped. It remains Welsh society's commitment to a better quality of life for both current and future generations. For people, for the planet, for now and for the future.

Last month, we saw the United Nations, for the very first time, commit to putting in place a range of institutional mechanisms to improve solidarity with future generations. It also recognised the importance of representing future generations as part of any country's approach to improving the lives of citizens and responsibility to the planet. This includes proposals for a declaration on future generations, a United Nations special envoy for future generations and regular mechanisms to consider future trends. Our experience in Wales has encouraged other countries to do the same, and these changes are a strong endorsement of the Senedd's bold decisions to legislate for the future.

The Agenda 2030 declaration, which formed the United Nations sustainable development goals, specifically acknowledges the essential role of national parliaments through their enactment of legislation and adoption of budgets and their role in ensuring accountability for effective implementation. The Senedd is therefore an important and recognised component of the accountability architecture of the well-being of future generations Act. In recognition of this, I wanted to make an early statement in this Senedd term as we start the next cycle of rooting sustainability in how Wales works.

Wales is continuing to show its international leadership on the sustainable development agenda. The independent report launched last week by the First Minister and the climate change Minister shows that Wales's research base is making a significant contribution to the United Nations sustainable development goals. I am proud to see the contribution that our scientific community is making to global issues.

Our action and leadership on the well-being of future generations agenda is accelerating in this Government term. Our programme for government, with the well-being objectives at its heart, demonstrates the central role of the well-being of future generations approach in our thinking and policy making. We've brought public bodies together to discuss how we take forward our sustainable development ambitions for Wales through a well-being of future generations national stakeholder forum. I plan to meet members of the forum shortly to discuss how Welsh Government will continue to provide leadership in the national implementation of the Act, and how we can take forward specific actions in collaboration with the forum and bring these actions together in a plan for this Government term.

Last month I launched a consultation on national milestones for Wales, which will shape future action towards achieving the shared well-being goals. And, at the end of this year, we’ll have the first set of national milestones within the Act, we’ll have updated our national well-being indicators to reflect the impact of the pandemic so far, and updated our report on future trends likely to affect Wales. This work provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the legislation, which is something I know the national forum are keen to work with us on.

We will also be reviewing the list of public bodies subject to the Act, as we recognise that there is value in extending these duties to other public bodies, and that many bodies are already adopting the sustainable development principle voluntarily. We’ll also continue to engage with our international counterparts through our continued membership of Regions4 sustainable development and the Wellbeing Economy Governments network, alongside Scotland, Iceland, Finland and New Zealand.

At the end of the last Senedd term, we saw three significant reports focused on the Act being published. The 'Future Generations Report' provided the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales's assessments of improvements public bodies should make to act in accordance with the sustainable development principle; the Auditor General for Wales reported on the results of their examinations of all public bodies; and the Public Accounts Committee of the fifth Senedd looked into the barriers to implementation. I’ve welcomed these reports because they provide a stock take every Senedd term on how the Act is enabling Government and public bodies to work in a more sustainable way.

Our response to the PAC report has now been published, and we will also shortly publish our responses to the auditor general’s and the future generations commissioner’s reports. Members and the relevant committees will need time to consider both the findings of these reports as well as the responses from Government, the commissioner, the auditor general and the public bodies charged with carrying out sustainable development.

I understand that the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee will be considering the responses to the PAC report tomorrow, and I hope that our response to the recommendations are helpful in their discussions. But I also appreciate that members of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and, of course, the Equality and Social Justice Committee, whose remit includes the Act, will need time to consider our response, and I’d be happy to respond to any further points that come out of these discussions.

In recognition of this, today’s statement is focused on our continued action on the well-being of future generations agenda in Wales and how the legislation can drive better decision making for current and future generations. The well-being of future generations Act continues to inform and shape what we do, how we work, and how we work with others. We will lead both the message on delivering a sustainable future for Wales, and the changes to how we work, so that sustainable development is reinforced as the central organising principle of Government and public bodies in Wales.

I imagine that the 'Delivering for Future Generations' report must have made for some uncomfortable reading for the Minister, given the overwhelming number of criticisms that have been laid at her feet and how poorly implemented this legislation has been.

The commissioner herself has expressed deep concern that her office is massively underfunded to fully implement this Welsh Government’s flagship future generations policy, and although it has been shown that the future generations commissioner does deliver in some select cases, there are many reported instances where public bodies in Wales have felt totally unsupported. Indeed, 

'For some, communication and correspondence is "limited", and attendance at Public Services Boards (PSB) meetings', by the commissioner, is 'fairly sporadic'. The Welsh NHS Confederation goes a step further, highlighting that they're unsure about what level of support they can actually expect, that the implementation of the Act is not always clear, and that they would actually welcome more practical support from the commissioner's office. Upon being questioned about this, the future generations commissioner felt that she lacked the resources to deliver this programme of work because she has the lowest budget of any commissioner in Wales. Moreover, the commissioner highlighted that 43 per cent of their office time is actually taken up by,

'supporting, advising, and lobbying the Welsh Government' to implement the Act within its own organisation. It is unbelievable, yet not surprising, given the overall incompetence of this Government that they cannot even implement their own legislation in their own organisation, and their commissioner is so fed up that she is willing to state that it's not her job to lobby the Welsh Government. 

Minister, why is the future generations commission spending a disproportionate amount of its time trying to get this establishment to work within the confines of the well-being of future generations Act, when it should be looking at increasing its profile and supporting outside organisations? Given that 87 per cent of the Welsh public, and, more startlingly, 8 per cent of Welsh public bodies, have never heard of the well-being of future generations Act, can the Minister agree with me that after five years the Welsh Government has failed to deliver its flagship policy? And will the Minister agree with the students who engaged with the inquiry that it's the fault of the governing party if ultimately things aren't right?

Further analysis of the report shows that the Welsh Government seems to have no idea whatsoever on how to implement this legislation, a fact highlighted by WWF Cymru, whose investigation concluded that there is no systematic, coherent approach by the Welsh Government to implementing the Act and there is a little evidence as yet that the Act's framework is driving any policy development. Indeed, the inquiry also heard from other public bodies and stakeholders that there was a siloed approach to working in Welsh Government, that there was a lack of consistency in how the Act is applied, and that there is a culture of slow change within the organisation. More negative criticism came from the auditor general, who stated:

'Repeatedly...we're seeing decisions taken by the Welsh Government that are not entirely congruent with the spirit of the Act.'

The chief executive and librarian of the National Library of Wales has argued that

'It's difficult to see where the policy of the Government in relation to culture and a thriving Welsh language is aligned with the requirements of the Act at present.'

Further damning criticism came from the commissioner, who agreed that

'we got off to quite a slow start at the beginning of the Act coming into force. We weren’t really seeing that very clear political leadership around the Act, and therefore it wasn’t really flowing down into the civil service and so on.'

The commissioner further went on to say, rather bluntly, in the report:

'when you start getting different bits of guidance and policy coming from Welsh Government, which doesn’t link to the thing that they’ve created in statute over here and that takes us off in a different direction, that is where the whole thing starts to be undermined.'

Sadly, this sentiment is shared by many public bodies in Wales, that the Act, although readily featuring in the Government's headline messaging and policy intent, appears to have no coherent message to how this actually translates into implementation; that this Act is overly complicated, overly inconsistent and, to paraphrase the future generations commissioner, complicates an already complex landscape. 

Finally, in closing, from reading the report, it is obvious that public bodies in Wales believe that the Welsh Government has shown very little political leadership in implementing this legislation, that it consistently needs to be lobbied to implement its own legislation, and there's very little evidence that the Act is driving forward any policy development or that it's a coherent approach. I understand that the Minister will do everything to save face on this damning report, but, in the simplest possible terms, can the Minister explain whether they will take seriously this criticism and respond accordingly, or will they simply deny it and carry on regardless? The future generations website declares that the well-being of future generations Act remains the only legislation of its type in the world and is regarded by the United Nations as a role model for other countries to follow. If this is truly the case, then this Government should be truly embarrassed. Thank you. 

A very disappointing set of questions and comments on reports—reports that I think actually reflect a very different view about the implementation of the well-being of future generations Act. I think it's really important that we look at the reports—the report, first of all, most importantly, of our own Public Accounts Committee, which, of course, reported before the end of the last session, to which we are responding today. I understand the committee is meeting tomorrow, and I think it will be very useful to see what their response is to our Government response to their recommendations. I thought the Public Accounts Committee report was extremely constructive, extremely useful, and, of course, we have Members here who've sat on that committee and who took part in that inquiry. But, also, I look forward to hearing from them in full. 

But let's just recognise that over the past 18 months the well-being of future generations Act has received considerable scrutiny on its effectiveness as a legislative framework to improve Wales's sustainability, and that's why these reports are so important. We need to look at all three of them in terms of a response. I think the reports from the Public Accounts Committee, the future generations commissioner and the auditor general provide a whole range of findings and ideas on how Government and public bodies can embed sustainable development in how they work, and advance the implementation of the well-being of future generations framework in Wales. So, I really welcome these reports, as they remain an integral part of the cycle of the Act. It would have been good to have heard some questions and comments on our responses to the recommendations that came through these reports.

The Welsh Government continues to provide leadership on the well-being of future generations agenda, we recognise our role as custodians of the legislation, and we want to use the legislation, as it has done already, to drive positive improvements in the way we make decisions in Wales. I've mentioned the new national stakeholder forum that has been set up, and the exchange events to share best practice. And also, I would hope that you have some interest in the consultation on national milestones and the national indicators. I hope that you will respond to these in terms of the consultation that we set out. This is about national milestones, the seven well-being goals for Wales, to provide a description of ways in which we want to achieve an economically, socially and environmentally just Wales.

I just want to finish, in terms of response to your points today, by giving some examples of the difference the well-being of future generations Act has made. It's interesting; in my own portfolio, the community facilities programme provides grants for community-led projects. They're used to improve the environmental and financial sustainability of community facilities; they're very much driven by the five goals—the more equal, more resilient, more sustainable Wales—but also the way in which we work on those. The disability equality forum, which I chair, is also considering the ways in which we can engage more frequently with the voice of disabled people, to ensure the voices of disabled people are heard, and also informing us in terms of the way we implement the socioeconomic duty.

Outside of my portfolio, 'Llwybr Newydd: The Wales Transport Strategy 2021' is a long-term vision, a key goal of the well-being of future generations—what's good for people, the environment, and for Wales, to have an accessible and sustainable transport system. And also, the 'Beyond Recycling' strategy, aiming to support the green recovery, by taking actions that support zero waste, net-zero carbon in Wales. They have all used the well-being of future generations ways of working and seven key goals to drive them forward.

I'm pleased and grateful to have the opportunity to respond to the statement today.

The well-being of future generations Act has been lauded internationally, and rightfully so. It's a groundbreaking piece of legislation that has the potential to transform our country for the better. Who could argue with legislation that enshrines seven cross-cutting well-being goals of prosperity, resilience, health, equality, cohesive communities, a vibrant culture with a thriving Welsh language, and finally a global, responsible Wales? In terms of a wish list for Wales, it's hard to fault it. I also think it's important for devolution that we have a point of difference that demonstrates that we can do things differently and better here in Wales. This Act, on paper at least, certainly does that.

However, as is often the case with legislation, the best of intentions are often let down by the execution. Unfortunately, that is what we have seen with the well-being of future generations Act. The Senedd's Public Accounts Committee, which reported in March of this year, found that the Act's radical ambitions have not been met with the necessary culture change across public bodies. Also, these public bodies have not done enough to build awareness of the shift to sustainable development across public services.

Such an ambitious piece of legislation also requires ambitious funding, but that has not been the case. Short funding cycles and late funding announcements have made it difficult for public bodies to plan, work together, and make the most of the resources they have. Nor has the future generations commissioner's budget been sufficient to allow their office to provide enough of the practical support that public bodies need to implement the Act. I acknowledge that Brexit has made matters worse for the Act's implementation as it has made it harder for public bodies to plan for an uncertain future.

I'm pleased to see that, in today's statement, there are several measures that have been taken to get things back on track. I welcome the bringing together of public bodies to discuss sustainable development and emissions through a national forum. The intention to draw up the first set of national milestones within the Act by the end of the year is also to be lauded. Looking to widen the scope of the Act to include more public bodies is also a positive move. I hope, together, your measures will address some of the shortfalls that have been identified as preventing the legislation meeting its full potential. 

If we are to achieve the seven goals, we will need to see more action on a range of policy areas. Until we see further progress in tackling matters like the housing crisis, the destruction of our environment and the awful rate of child poverty, the well-being of future generations Act will not be brought to life. Diolch.

The Deputy Presiding Officer (David Rees) took the Chair.

Diolch yn fawr, Peredur. Thank you, also, for acknowledging the importance of this groundbreaking legislation—the well-being of future generations Act—which is lauded not just in terms of those who engage with it proactively, but across the world as well. But obviously it's the first five years, and we have to learn and address the issues that have, most importantly, come out very constructively, I believe, in the reports that we've had from our former Public Accounts Committee, and from the auditor general as well, and, indeed, from the well-being and future generations commissioner herself, in terms of her report.

As I said in my statement, I'm shortly writing to the future generations commissioner to ensure that we conclude our response to the future generations report 2020, which was a very impressive and deep and wide-ranging document in terms of her policy ambitions, priorities and, also, reflecting on what has been achieved, but, also, recognising, as she did—. The future generations report recognised many of the actions we've taken to lead Wales down a more sustainable path, which is what quite clearly and rightly you were asking me. What have been the impacts and outcomes? The declaration of our climate emergency, changes to our national planning policy, work to support community-level actions through the Local Places for Nature and community hubs programme, and, also improving our budget process—all acknowledged in her report. 

I do think it's important to just report, as I did in my response to the Public Accounts Committee report, that the commissioner's funding has been increased this year to provide parity with the children's commissioner. What's important, in her positive response to this, is that this will be used to meet the statutory demands on her—statutory work demands at the end of this financial year and into the next. Of course, it's also important to recognise the huge level of demand the Welsh Government recognises that the future generations commissioner's office has in terms of seeking guidance. So, we're certainly working with the commissioner to help relieve these pressures. 

But I do think it's really helpful, again, Peredur, that you've outlined the importance of the way forward in terms of the national milestones and the well-being indicators that we're consulting on, because this is what people want to hear about, and how we want to drive our priorities. It does include the ecological footprint of Wales, the percentage of people in employment, pay equality for gender, ethnicity and disability, emissions of greenhouse gases within Wales, the number of people who can speak Welsh. All of these issues are now being consulted on in the national well-being indicators, which are actually crucial to the well-being of future generations legislation and what it will deliver.

So, I'm grateful for your response. There is much to learn from as a result of these reports. I've accepted in principle or, if not, in full the recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee, to make sure that we can move forward in terms of recognising those public bodies that we perhaps need to also bring into the purview of the well-being of future generations legislation, to ensure that everyone can benefit. And I think one of the important developments—I've mentioned the national stakeholder forum—is the role of the third sector, particularly the third sector in the environmental sector, who can also help with the delivery of national implementation of this Act.

Well, if Members aren't aware, I'm responding as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee rather than in a party capacity.

Well, as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, now abbreviated as PAPAC, I must remind Members that the role of this committee is to scrutinise the efficient and effective use and administration of public resources, which cuts across all areas of Welsh Government business. It is practice for committee Chairs to receive Welsh Government responses to committee reports in writing, enabling detailed consideration by the committee. But we only received a written response last Wednesday, and the committee doesn't meet until tomorrow. Furthermore, PAPAC reports, and ministerial responses to them, are not usually debated via ministerial statement. The approach taken by the Welsh Government today is therefore considered discourteous, as is the replacement, only yesterday, of a tabled statement with a title, which included our report, by a generic statement—the statement being debated now.

Minister, do you recognise that this is not the usual way for a committee report to be responded to, and that this does not allow for an adequate debate or discussion on this very important cross-cutting issue? I advise the Minister that the committee will consider tabling a further Plenary debate on this where a previous Plenary debate in March preceded the Welsh Government's response.

The Minister has referred to the three reports published relating to the Act, namely the previous Public Accounts Committee report, the Auditor General for Wales report and the future generations commissioner's report. However, responses to the latter two have not even yet been shared by the Welsh Government. The fifth Senedd Chairs' forum tasked the then Public Accounts Committee to undertake an inquiry into the implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, involving other committees in its work. The subsequent report recognised, in recommendations 13 and 14, that the Business Committee of the sixth Senedd should give consideration to how scrutiny of the Act should be taken forward. The Equality and Social Justice Committee now does have remit for the Act, but, in responding to these recommendations, the Business Committee stated that making one committee responsible for scrutiny of the implementation of the well-being of future generations Act will hopefully ensure it receives focused post-legislative scrutiny, but this need not be done in isolation from the work of other committees. Do you therefore recognise the important point here, that any scrutiny of this Act has to be undertaken collaboratively, and that PAPAC will maintain a key role in this work?

Minister, I only received the Welsh Government's response to the PAC report, as you know, last Wednesday, with its acceptance in principle only of the majority of the report's recommendations directed at the Welsh Government. The Welsh Government explained this approach was taken where they agreed with the recommendations themselves but not their timetable for delivery or the means in which to achieve the recommendation. Why, when the Permanent Secretary previously gave the Public Accounts Committee a commitment, in January 2018, to end the practice, in light of Members' concerns that acceptance in principle did not constitute an adequate response to all but one of your responses, accept in principle only? Further, do you recognise that it is not clear how the Welsh Government has agreed with the recommendations, even in principle? Although many of the Welsh Government's responses suggest there is other activity being undertaken, do you accept that implementation of legislation requires monitoring, evaluation, and a clear timetable, not only for the recommendations you have agreed to in principle, but also for the implementation of the Act? It's regrettable—[Interruption.]

I have given the Member additional time, because he is Chair, but he has gone beyond that time now.

It's regrettable I have insufficient time to question you about our report's recommendations themselves.

Diolch yn fawr, Mark Isherwood. Congratulations on your role as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee—PAPAC, as it is now called. Obviously, you are responding to—taking forward the report that was undertaken by the previous Public Accounts Committee, and I've already written to you, as you've outlined, with our response to your report, and I wanted to make sure that you did get that response in time for this statement today, and also knowing that you will be discussing this tomorrow.

Well, it is important that I respond to the point about how we're managing and responding to this, and what the role of the scrutiny of the Senedd is in terms of the well-being of future generations Act. As I said in my statement, I wanted to look at the whole picture of all the reports that are coming before us on the well-being of future generations Act, given it's the first five years. It's the first time that we've had all the reports, and we do need to give Members time to consider both the findings of the reports, not, obviously, just our response to your report, but also, as we respond, as I said in my statement, to the auditor general's report and the future generations commissioner report as well. And I'm very happy to come back to respond to further discussions and the outcome of your consideration tomorrow.

In terms of why I'm responding today, the recommendations within the report are directed at Welsh Government. Those that are directed to Welsh Government are for Welsh Ministers to determine, and they do cover key decisions, such as reviewing the list of bodies subject to that—that has to be Welsh Ministers who consider that; funding cycles as well—those are for Ministers to lead on. And the nature of the well-being of future generations Act, rightly, is that it cuts across all the responsibilities of Welsh Ministers, as well as the Welsh Government civil service. So, I do look forward to—. I will respond to points that come out of your discussion tomorrow. 

As far as scrutiny of the Act by the Senedd, obviously, as we've said, the Senedd is an important part of the accountability architecture of the well-being of future generations Act, and I think the approach taken shows that the legislation can't be considered just by one committee, nor is it the responsibility of one Welsh Minister. It's a collective responsibility and duty to promote and carry out sustainable development in what we do, and I understand that the Llywydd as Chair of the Business Committee has provided a response to the two recommendations from the PAC report concerning scrutiny of the Act. Hopefully you will see that what's very important, in terms of my response to the PAC committee, is the fact that I have accepted your recommendations—that I have accepted, within the remit and the prospects that we have in terms of timing, all of the recommendations.

Just looking at financial security to public bodies that are subject to this Act—the longer term financial security—that's a crucial recommendation that came out of your committee. Of course, you know it remains our aspiration, as a Welsh Government, to provide longer term budgets, and I do want to comment on this today, because it's not just for us, but for our partners and stakeholders, to provide that certainty. But there is an issue here in terms of—and it was recognised by the committee—lack of forward funding figures from the UK Government. It has been an issue for us. It has meant that we haven't been able to give multi-year funding settlements as a Welsh Government, and we continue to press the case to the UK Government to publish multi-year settlements. We will, then, hopefully see, with the forthcoming UK spending review and budget on 24 October, this move to—that we could hopefully expect a three-year settlement. So, this could help us move forward, because we want to provide an indication of funding for future years, where this is possible, for our public bodies, and if we receive this multi-year settlement from the UK Government, it should enable us to provide bodies with much longer term indicative budgets. So, that is the reason why we have to accept in principle, but it includes, obviously, a recognition that the UK Government has a part to play in this as well.

And just, finally, we are looking very carefully at the other issues I've mentioned, the milestones, and the way we move forward on that, but also the review of public bodies that are subject to the Act. And that is crucially important, that we are carrying out a review of the bodies subject to the Act, and those four tests applied in determining which public bodies are subject to the Act that are being developed will form the basis of that work. So, this is a positive response to the recommendations of the Public Accounts Committee, and I've mentioned at least three already. Thank you, Deputy Llywydd.

I agree with Mark Isherwood, particularly that we do actually need a full debate in Government time on these important issues, because we simply can't afford not to use the Act to ensure that all public bodies are working together to collectively deliver the aims and required outcomes of the well-being of future generations Act, not least because of the cuts in funding by the UK Government, so we have less money to play with, but also because of the really overriding challenges we face as a result of COVID, Brexit and all manner of other things.

Although I Chair the Equality and Social Justice Committee, we haven't discussed this at all, so I'm speaking in my capacity as somebody who was involved in the PAC report that the Minister is replying to. I have to say that I share Mark Isherwood's sadness that so many of the recommendations have only been accepted in principle, because I don't think that is in the spirit of the way the Government should be working. Either you reject them, or—

Can the Member ask a question now, please?

—you accept them. So, the question really is—I don't understand why you've not accepted fully recommendation 2, that you look at the way the public services boards are funded, simply because—. This is not about giving them loads of money so they get into the whole cycle of bidding for grants; it's about ensuring that they can access pooled funds so that they're not thinking about who is going to be covering the minimum hiring of rooms for meeting together— 

Thank you. Time.

They clearly have to use their funds collectively to do whatever they think are the priorities for their area, but I do think that there is something that the Government can do to make it easier for them. So, that is certainly one, and I have plenty more to say, but I can see that the Deputy Presiding Officer is not going to let me proceed.

Thank you very much, Jenny Rathbone. I recognise your roles here today as Chair of the Equality and Social Justice Committee and also having been a member of the previous Public Accounts Committee, and you're absolutely right, we can't afford not to use this Act in terms of the impact of COVID-19, particularly, which has had an impact on how we've been able to respond to the legislation over the past year at the end of the first five years of the Act and also the decade of austerity and, indeed, the committee even looked at the impact of Brexit as well in its considerations.

But I will respond to that key recommendation. Accepting in principle or in full is about have you got full control over saying 'yes' to some things, so in terms of public services boards funding, it has been our policy that it's for the boards themselves to decide how they collectively resource their work, including pooling funding, and there are some good examples of how boards have taken this forward. But, there have been varying degrees of success, and it's reflected in the report, about pooling funding or drawing on funds outside of the budget of those particular PSBs. So, what we need to do is work with the PSBs, the public services boards, to learn the lessons of the past and current work to pool resources to get some common practice on effective pooling of funding between members, but also look at how we can raise awareness of the range of other funding sources available and how they can access them, and then also—and this is crucially important in terms of the Welsh Government's response—consider annually the package of funding and support Welsh Government must make available directly to PSBs. So, there were a lot of elements in that very good recommendation that I'm responding to where we can in principle and then in full respond to it. So, we aim to complete the funding work ready for them to deliver on their next well-being plans from May 2023, because it's crucially important—we have to assist them in delivering their local assessments of well-being.

The future generations commissioner has the scope to challenge all of us and the way we work to deliver a better future. I would like to congratulate the current and first commissioner on establishing the office, building its profile and relationship with public bodies, working with them to embed the principles of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 in their work. I also want to recognise the organisations not within the scope of the Act who have also worked to understand the potential of the legislation in the way they deliver services.

Minister, my questions are: increasingly, public bodies will turn to the commissioner's office for help and assistance in using the well-being goals. On the one hand, their engagement is welcome, but it does raise the matter of resources. What consideration are you giving to the resourcing of the commissioner's office to ensure they are able to support the work being taken forward by public bodies? Also, in your statement you said that the programme for government demonstrates the central role of the well-being of future generations approach in your thinking and policy making. Can you be more specific in how Government departments have changed to reflect this, and on what evidence can you rely? Last is— 

The Member has asked questions and we've gone over time. Minister. 

Thank you, and thank you very much to the Member. It is crucially important that we are able to use the well-being of future generations legislation, and it is important that we do have the scope to challenge how this is being used. I have already answered the question on how we've increased the funding of the commissioner, but also have given some examples about how we have used the well-being of future generations Act to deliver on the changes. I've already mentioned a few, but I think I'd like to also, for example, mention not only—. I've already mentioned that the Welsh Parliament was the first in the world to declare a climate emergency, that we're upholding our policy of opposing the extraction of fossil fuels in Wales, but we've also signalled our intent to pause all new road schemes against the backdrop of our legally binding target of reaching net zero by 2050.

Also some other examples in terms of the ways of working, in terms of involvement and engagement, are the fact that the national museum has been involving young people in all aspects of the museum of Wales's work and also, indeed, the arts council and Welsh NHS confederation. These are bodies that have ensured that they can draw on the well-being goals and the ways of working to deliver. 

But finally I want to say that there is a very important recommendation in terms of remit letters. The remit letters now include a requirement to meet fully the well-being duties set out in the well-being of future generations Act. And that's a very important public accounts committee recommendation that I'm very pleased to accept. 

And finally, John Griffiths. 

Minister, it's really good that we have this internationally recognised legislation here in Wales to help guide us, and I would say a very strong commissioner to help drive progress. And I'm glad that you've been able to find some additional funding for the office. You mentioned the pandemic, Minister, and new processes being put in place. Certainly, I've heard, and I'm sure other Members will have, of very good joint working, integrated working, during the pandemic between local government and Welsh Government, local government and voluntary organisations, the health service and key partners, for example. So, could you say a little bit more about how that process will recognise that new working that's very much along the lines of what the Act requires and help develop it and embed it for the future? And also the corporate joint committees and public services boards—both of them are very important. They're on the sort of same footprint, really. How will the Act make sure that they're a key part of delivering the necessary progress, working together?

Well, thank you very much, John Griffiths, for the key role you've played in this Senedd and in Government in terms of bringing us to this point where we have such groundbreaking legislation with the well-being of future generations Act. In 'Shaping Wales' Future', which is the publication for our consultation on our national milestones, it's so important—it says that we have a law in Wales that helps us all work together to improve our environment, our economy, our society and our culture, and that's all of the well-being goals that have already been identified today. The fact that the ways of working, which include collaboration, integration, involvement, long-term prevention, have actually guided the work that we've done during the pandemic, I think, in terms of the ways of working not just with local government, Welsh Government, but also with all our other partners in the third sector, obviously the health service, but policing as well, is a testament to the fact that those public bodies have signed up to the principles of the well-being of future generations legislation.

And I think that the public services boards have a key role to play, and you will probably be aware, I'm sure, being the Member for Newport East, of the work that's been done in Gwent, where all of the public services boards have come together to ensure that they can make the most of that integrated partnership working at that sub-regional level.

I think it's going to be very important to look at their assessments—the public services boards' assessments—of well-being. They're being undertaken by next spring, but I would also very much encourage Members to look at our 'Well-being in Wales' report, which was published last week, as well as looking at the future trends report, which will be delivered in the coming weeks and months.

I thank the Minister.