Agenda item 3: analysis of Public Sector reports

Social Partnership Council (SPC) members are asked to agree: 

• key examples of good practice that should be covered in the analysis of the reports published by the 56 public bodies subject to the Social Partnership Duty (SP Duty).

1. The paper sets out proposals as to how the SPC might undertake its function of providing information and advice to Welsh Ministers in relation to the social partnership duties placed on public bodies. SPC members are asked to consider what should be in the analysis of the reports beyond compliance with the SP Duty.

2. Part 2 of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act (the SPPP Act) places a social partnership duty on those public bodies subject to the well-being duty in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, and separately on Welsh Ministers.
    
3. The social partnership duty on public bodies was commenced on 1 April 2024. Since then, public bodies subject to the legislation have been required to seek consensus or compromise with their recognised trade unions (or other representatives of staff where no trade unions are present) when setting their well-being objectives or making decisions of a strategic nature about the steps they intend to take to deliver those objectives.
    
4. Each public body subject to the social partnership duty will be required to publish and provide to the SPC an annual report at the end of each financial year explaining what they have done to comply with the duty in the preceding 12 months.  Each public body must agree its report with its recognised trade unions (or where there is no recognised trade union, other representatives of its staff) or, if has not been agreed, the report must contain a statement explaining why it was not agreed.
    
5. At its first meeting in February, the SPC agreed that the 56 reports on the SP Duty published by the relevant public bodies each year, should be collated and analysed. Members will be provided with a summary report which will include the following information:

• Where a public body has set well-being objectives during the reporting period, it has provided evidence that it has sought consensus or compromise with its workforce (through its recognised trade unions or representatives of staff) in relation to these, and the outcome of that process;
• Where a public body has taken decisions of a strategic nature in relation to the reasonable steps it intends to take to meet those well-being objectives during the reporting period, it has provided evidence of it having sought consensus or compromise with its workforce in relation to these, and the outcome of that process; and
• Whether each public body’s annual report has been agreed with its workforce, and if not, the reasons why agreement was not reached.

6. The information outlined above will demonstrate public bodies’ compliance with the duty. There is no requirement in the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act for additional detail to be provided. However, the summary provided to members could also highlight examples of notable practice which the SPC might wish to draw to the attention of other public bodies and/or share more widely via case studies to be published on its website, subject to agreement.
    
7. This would provide the SPC with information which would enable it to, not only:
   •    understand the extent to which public bodies are meeting the social partnership duty;but also;
   •    identify and promulgate examples of good practice; and
   •    identify and address any potential areas of concern.
    
8. As agreed in February, following consideration of the summary report by SPC members each year the SPC’s observations will be recorded in the minutes of the relevant meetings and published on the SPC website. Where examples of good practice are identified these will be highlighted on a dedicated section of the website where case studies will be available for other organisations to learn from. Where any areas of concern may be identified, these will be fed back to the relevant public body/ies along with signposting to relevant guidance and information. 

9. Members of the SPC are invited to agree the proposals set out above, to demonstrate public bodies’ compliance beyond the Duty.
    
10. Members are invited to discuss any additional criteria they would like the secretariat to capture when analysing the 56 reports. It is suggested that this is limited to 3 to 5, so as to ensure a consistency of approach and that analysis remains focused on agreed key issues.

11. The public bodies will be required to publish a report on compliance with the SP duty from 1 April 2025. However, there is no fixed deadline by which publication must take place.
     
12. Once the examples of good practice have been agreed, they will then be used to analyse the reports following publication. It is anticipated that an interim analysis will be tabled at the Autumn meeting.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

The content of this paper does not raise any significant EDI issues.