Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill: consultation analysis

1. Introduction

This report

The Scottish Government launched the consultation on the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill on 6 December 2023. The consultation ran for 10 weeks to 14 February 2024. EKOS, an independent research consultancy, was commissioned by Scottish Government to analyse the responses received. This report presents the findings from that analysis.

The Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill

The focus of the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill consultation is the future. The National Outcomes describe the ambitious vision Scottish Government has for Scotland and the desire for all of society to work together to protect Scotland’s environment and improve the quality of people’s lives. The ambition to put people and planet at the heart of the economy has never been more important given the cost of living and climate crises. To achieve this, Scottish Government recognises that it needs to make greater improvements to the effectiveness of its decision-making to ensure that government is focused on the wellbeing of people and planet, in a way that is sustainable and considers the needs of both current and future generations.

The aims of the proposed Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill reflect Scottish Government’s priorities. The Policy Prospectus Equality, Opportunity, Community (April 2023) sets out government’s priority to deliver a Wellbeing Economy for people and planet. The Programme for Government 2023-2024 recognises that each mission is connected and, when delivered together, will make a real and positive difference to the lives of people across Scotland. Continually improving the National Outcomes is one of the ways Scottish Government and others can achieve these aims and ensure long-term and sustainable policy and delivery approaches.

In developing the proposed Bill, Scottish Government engaged with stakeholders and considered the extensive work of others to explore how wellbeing and sustainable development can be better reflected in policy and delivery decisions. This included:

• consideration of the summary of consultation responses to Sarah Boyack MSP proposed Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill
• consideration of the findings of the Scottish Parliament Finance and Public Administration Committee’s inquiries into the National Performance Framework (NPF) and effective decision-making
• engagement across the public sector on how the interests of future generations can be better considered in policy
• listening to the views of third sector organisations with an interest in sustainable development
• learning from similar work in Wales, Gibraltar, and others internationally who are working to uphold the interests of future generations

What the consultation sought views on

The consultation on the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill sought views from people and organisations across Scotland on several specific legislative measures to help:

• inform the scope of any legislation required
• ensure that all decision-making is focused on achieving the National Outcomes for current and future generations

The consultation document comprised six sections including:

• defining wellbeing
• defining sustainable development
• strengthening duties for National Outcomes and sustainable development
• clarifying to whom the duties apply
• defining ways of working
• determining an approach for future generations

The remainder of this report is structured in line with the six topic areas and associated questions asked within the consultation document.

The report also provides an overview of the consultation methodology, and a summary of the main themes from the stakeholder events which supplemented the public consultation.