Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution – in the Senedd at 2:47 pm on 24 November 2021.
Diolch. Later on today, there's a debate about the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and I'm pleased about this, because I'm a strong believer that Acts of Parliament need to be enforceable, not only aspirational. I'm aware of three occasions that this Act has been in front of the courts and has tried to be used in a judicial review, and in each case the public authority under challenge successfully argued that the well-being duty placed on bodies by the Act was too general and too aspirational to be enforceable. Three experts say this about the Act: Dr Sarah Nason from Bangor says it doesn't endow individuals with legally enforceable rights against public bodies; Lord Thomas said on Monday to the Senedd justice committee,
'one of the problems with the future generations Act is that it is not specific and tight enough. It doesn't hold politicians...their feet—to the wheel.'
And, then, the final expert is you, Counsel General. You said here in 2014 that the principles of the Bill are far too loose and far too woolly. The Commission on Justice in Wales recommended early engagement when drafting legislation with the judiciary. Now, that's a common practice across the world. Is that happening in Wales? And isn't it time to amend the Act in consultation with the judges to give it some teeth and to make it enforceable?