How is the Wellbeing of Wales report used?

The annual Wellbeing of Wales report provides an update on wellbeing in Wales, to help us assess whether we are making progress against the 7 national wellbeing goals set by the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The report considers progress against the national indicators, alongside a range of other relevant data.

We are always looking of ways to improve the report, and make the information we publish more accessible and suitable for a wide ranging audience. Understanding how the report is used is key to this.

This document outlines how we think the report is used by others. Please let us know if you agree with these and if possible provide short case studies of how the report has been used. Also if you have different uses of the report please contact us at stats.info.desk@gov.wales.

A State of the Nation Report

The Wellbeing of Wales report provides an opportunity for the Chief Statistician to highlight key messages on the progress Wales is making across a number of outcomes in an authoritative, coherent and collective way. This includes bringing together a wide range of sources, some of which are not published elsewhere as official statistics. This can be used by all stakeholders, including citizens and the media to understand the key trends and challenges facing Wales. For example, the Senedd research service produced the blog 'How resilient is Wales? Findings from the Welsh Government’s Well-being of Wales report' in 2017, and the Building Communities Trust used data from the 2019 report in their 2020 Building Stronger Welsh Communities report.  . 

Scrutiny

The report is intended to be used by Senedd Cymru (including Assembly Members and committees) and others such as the Commissioners and Wales Audit Office, to provide scrutiny against Wales’ performance against the goals. For example following the September 2018 report, the Future Generations Commissioner and Children’s Commissioner issued public statements in response to the report. 

Government reports and policy documents

The report is used to provide context and evidence to support government documents. For example, the annual report against the Government’s national strategy Prosperity for All; or the Welsh Government’s Employability plan.

Local wellbeing plans

There is a requirement within the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 for Public Service Boards (PSBs) to publish an annual report no later than 14 months after the publication of its first local well-being plan, with subsequent reports to be published within one year of each previous report. The guidance states that it would be expected that progress will be measured with reference to the national indicators. Local authorities have used the Wellbeing of Wales report and the National Indicators to support the development of wellbeing plans and annual reports against those plans. They state that the report provides useful introduction to the indicators, national context and further links to data and information.

Bids for funding

The Wellbeing of Wales report has been used by organisations, for examples those in the third sector, to develop bids for funding. We are also aware that a national charity has used the Wellbeing of Wales report to help shape their thinking around the areas of need and the specific impact they could make in Wales with this funding, and have used those data to highlight were sectors can make the most difference for individuals and communities.

Measuring progress against the Sustainable Development Goals

The Wellbeing of Wales report and the national indicators provide the framework for understanding Wales’ contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As such the report is used to highlight how the national indicators link to the SDGs and was used to provide supporting data for the UK Voluntary National Review (GOV.UK) in 2019, as well as the Supplementary Report for Wales.

Supporting the development of other measurement frameworks

The national indicators are used across the public sector as a framework for developing more bespoke measurement frameworks. For example, the Public Health Wales outcomes framework has the national wellbeing indicators as context for a wider set of indicators specifically around public health. The Thriving Places Index produced by Data Cymru has used the data from the national indicators. The Understanding Welsh Places stakeholder consortium has been considering which data from the national indicators would be relevant and appropriate for inclusion at a local level. The National Lottery Heritage Fund launched its Strategic Funding Framework in January 2019, using data from the 2018 report as part of the scoping work in Wales.