Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill: consultation

Annex C: Learning from others

The Scottish Government has also examined several current examples of similar legislation from outwith Scotland. In developing the Bill proposal, we have learned from the successes and challenges of these examples, and carefully considered how such proposals could be adapted to Scotland.

The Welsh Government established a Future Generations Commissioner for Wales (FGCW) through the Well-being of Future Generation (Wales) Act 2015.

The FGCW has a constructive challenge role backed by statutory powers of investigation, which has (in some cases) had prominent effects on policy decisions. The Act’s statutory ‘Ways of Working’ have been effective in embedding sustainable development principles in public decision making. In developing proposals for the Bill, the Scottish Government has learned that a combination of ‘hard’ statutory powers, coupled with supportive ‘soft’ powers such as those in the Welsh Act can be a highly effective approach.

Arrangements in Wales have also been comparatively more successful in influencing policy discourse, and more durable than other international examples, primarily because their wellbeing framework and Commissioner are enshrined in law as institutions and governance mechanisms, thus overcoming short-term instability. As the World Future Council notes, the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (WFG Act), and Future Generations Commissioner, have a “broad policy remit closer to a holistic protection of living conditions for future generations” rather than mandates “limited to the protection of the environment”. This has impact across the public sector.

Countries and territories such as Canada, Hungary and Gibraltar have taken similar approaches to build prevention and long-term impacts into their decision making processes. For example, Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development is embedded within the Auditor General of Canada to provide parliamentarians with analysis and recommendations on the federal government’s efforts to foster sustainable development. It monitors the sustainable development strategies of federal departments and the government’s management of environmental and sustainable development issues.

However, the Act and Commissioner in Wales, due to their broader policy remit and firmer statutory basis, are widely recognised as a highly effective model for promoting wellbeing and sustainable development.

To learn from the Welsh approach in more detail, the Scottish Government has engaged with several stakeholders who have direct experience of the Act and Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, including Welsh Government officials; Sophie Howe, the former Commissioner; officials in the Commissioner’s office; Jane Davidson, the Minister who originated the Act in the Senedd and several public and third sector organisations.

The main features of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 are as follows:

1. Sustainable development: The Act defines sustainable development as “Acting in a manner which seeks to ensure the needs of the present are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

2. Well-being Goals: The Act defines seven Well-being Goals to inform the work of public bodies. Ministers must publish ‘national indicators’ to measure progress.

3. Duties on Ministers and public bodies: Public bodies are required to set ‘well-being objectives’ towards achieving the well-being goals, including actions and timescales. Ministers and public bodies must publish annual progress reports.

4. Public Services Boards (PSBs): The Act creates PSBs to ensure local authorities and local public bodies work together towards the well-being goals. Each PSB must set out ‘local objectives’ for its contribution to the well-being goals. Once per local election cycle, they must produce a ‘local well-being plan’.

5. Future Trends Report (produced every five years by the Welsh Government) used to inform public bodies on how they can undertake the Act’s Ways of Working and also helping them to consider the long-term impacts of decisions.

The individuals and organisations in Wales engaged with had diverse views on the main successes and challenges of the Act and the Commissioner’s office. However, there was general agreement that the Act has been largely successful in encouraging organisations to reflect wellbeing and sustainable development in their ways of working.

The Act’s defined Ways of Working (long-term, prevention, integration, collaboration, and involvement) are seen as having been highly effective in defining how decision making can best uphold the interests of future generations, ensuring these principles are embedded in processes, not just final decisions. This is seen as an efficient approach because the Commissioner does not have the capacity to advise on the results of every individual decision.

Furthermore, the Commissioner’s ‘soft power’ has given future generations and sustainable development issues a more prominent place in national discourse, meaning the Act does not usually need to be enforced through ‘hard’ legal mechanisms.