Let me start by thanking our Chair, Jenny Rathbone, my fellow Members and the committee clerks and researchers. As a committee, we have set ourselves the objective of championing equality, social justice and the well-being of future generations across the Senedd, so scrutinising the implementation of the well-being of future generations Act is a crucial part of this. And as we come to seven years since the Act was passed, now is a particularly poignant time at the start of our sixth Senedd to reflect and present ideas for improvements in how it is enacted. Our committee report has four key recommendations, so it may be small, but it is also mighty to ensure that our first-of-its-kind legislation is as effective as possible for all.

Let me start by saying that I am pleased that recommendation 2 has been accepted by Welsh Government—to carry out an evaluation looking at the scope of the commissioner's work and responsibilities, and look to support future expansion. As you've just said, Sioned, there are lots of reasons why this needs to be done. In particular, I believe exploring the possibility of the commissioner's office being able to take on casework could be hugely beneficial to the people of Wales. I know that in my own constituency, Bridgend, we recently had a campaign where the local community came out and wanted to protect Brackla fields, as we call it, and they wrote to the future generations commissioner, who wrote them a letter back, which really did give them a big boost in terms of doing their campaign. But I think that if they could have had more guidance in terms of how they could have fought for their campaign in line with the legislation, that would have made a huge difference. Furthermore, part of the recommendation is that an evaluation should be undertaken in time for the appointment of the new future generations commissioner in 2023. So, as we begin to look to the next era of the office, I would also just like to thank our first future generations commissioner, Sophie Howe, and her team for all that she continues to do in providing evidence and suggestions for how to strengthen the office going forward, and the goals.

I am also pleased the Welsh Government has accepted recommendation 4, in particular committing to set out plans for how to monitor and evaluate progress in implementing the Act and making sure that it's fit for purpose across public bodies. Again, I draw on what is happening in my own constituency, where we have lots of wonderful projects and plans in the pipeline for regeneration. However, when I met with the future generations commissioner to have a chat about some of these and whether or not they were in line with the plans and the legislation, it's not something that they can look into at the time; it's something that will be assessed later on with these periodic reports that are done. Unfortunately, that means that even though it may be unintentional that it hasn't been in line, it is lacking, and decisions have already been made that cannot be undone.

I'd like to thank the Permanent Secretary for responding to our recommendation 3, relating to providing training and professional development to ensure that Welsh Government employees fully understand and comply with the Act, and I welcome the update on the recently launched Welsh Government 2025 three-year programme for organisational development, and also a platform so that the workforce can feed back and talk about the changes and improvements that they would like to see. As we've already heard, the commissioner did make the point that she feels that the Welsh Government has relied quite heavily on their office to give them support, and to feed back on the work that it's doing and if it's in line with the goals and the legislation. And so, hopefully training will mean that that comes down and that the commissioner's office has time to do other work.

I'll end by saying that although not accepted, I do think that the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, when it has capacity, should carry out a review of the resourcing arrangements of the Wales commissioners. We've heard from Jenny and Sioned about the reasons why this is very relevant, and I do think that possibly that could include sharing of some back-room functions and staff across the board.

Overall, I am satisfied with the Welsh Government response—thank you, Minister—and I'm confident that they will be taken seriously. I really do look forward to seeing how our world-leading legislation will strengthen and improve outcomes for the well-being of our future generations.