I'm pleased to speak in this debate as Chair of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, which you kindly referred to. The committee, which has the acronym PAPAC, has long-term interest in the implementation of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, with our predecessor committee having reported on 'Delivering for Future Generations: the story so far' in March 2020.

Last November, I was pleased to share the lead on a joint debate with the Chair of the Equality and Social Justice Committee on the Welsh Government's response to that report, as well as its responses to the first statutory report by the future generations commissioner and by the Auditor General for Wales, published in May 2020, on the Act. That joint committee debate, the first of its kind, demonstrated cross-party commitment to securing the successful implementation of the Act and ensuring that our public services deliver efficiently and sustainably for our future generations. I thank the Equality and Social Justice Committee for their work in this area and welcome this report from them, which builds upon the work undertaken by the previous Public Accounts Committee and reinforces many of the concerns raised by it. 

Recommendation 1 of this report is directed at the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and asked us to carry out a review of the resourcing arrangements of Wales's commissioners. I note that the report acknowledges that each commissioner has different roles and responsibilities and that resourcing needs vary accordingly, but clarification of the justification behind different resource allocations is lacking and warrants further scrutiny.

The report highlights that the different roles and offices of the Welsh commissioners have grown in a piecemeal fashion. It is the responsibility of the Welsh Government to better justify how each commissioner is resourced, but I agree that a review by PAPAC, which would be the first time such scrutiny has been undertaken, would be beneficial and would provide important insights for the appointment of future commissioners. I’m therefore pleased to confirm that PAPAC has accepted this recommendation and we will undertake scrutiny into the work of Welsh commissioners in autumn of this year.

The Equality and Social Justice Committee report refers to the complex landscape within which implementation of the Act operates. This is an issue our predecessor committee raised, concluding that the, and I quote,

'complex and bureaucratic landscape of partnership bodies and plethora of legislative and reporting requirements has made it difficult for public bodies to adopt this Act and has, at times, actively disincentivised it.'

In recently updating PAPAC on the implementation of this recommendation, the Minister highlighted that the outcome of the Welsh Government's review of strategic partnerships contained clear recommendations on practical actions to simplify the partnership landscape. We also noted from the update the commitment in the co-operation agreement between the Labour Government and Plaid Cymru to keep regional partnership arrangements under review, which overlaps with the recommendations of our predecessor committee. We therefore hope the Equality and Social Justice Committee’s conclusion that the Welsh Government should provide greater leadership and clarity around how different bodies interact within the context and framework of the Act will give further impetus to simplifying the overly complex landscape and remove a significant barrier to implementation of the Act.

During the last Plenary debate on the implementation of the Act, I noted that successful implementation depended upon cultural change that needs to begin with awareness and understanding at all levels of public bodies. It is disappointing that the Equality and Social Justice Committee report concludes that, while encouraging progress is being made in terms of implementation of the Act, there is ample room for improvement, particularly in relation to the gap between policy and practice. I therefore endorse recommendation 4 of the committee’s report, which asks the Welsh Government to set out its plans for embedding the Act to ensure that all aspects of public life are shaped by the legislation and that the measures in place to monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the Act are fit for purpose.

In summing up, continued collaborative scrutiny of implementation of the Act across the Senedd is essential going forward. We hope that the response from the Welsh Government to this report and the ongoing work being undertaken in response to the previous Public Accounts Committee report is progress towards better implementation, but this remains slow. I look forward to working with the Equality and Social Justice Committee and to ensuring that the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee will maintain a key role in monitoring progress and holding the Welsh Government, and others tasked with implementing the Act, to account. Diolch yn fawr.