Inquiry5

The Auditor General for Wales has a duty, under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, to examine and report on the extent to which relevant public bodies have acted in accordance with the ‘sustainable development principle’ when setting and taking steps to meet ‘well-being objectives’.

The Auditor General published his first statutory Report in relation to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 in May 2020, in line with being available 12 months prior to elections in respect of the Senedd.

The Future Generations Commissioner also has a similar requirement and her first Report was also published May 2020.

The Chair’s Forum met in March 2020 and agreed that the Public Accounts Committee would lead on examining these Reports.

The Public Accounts Committee received briefings from both the Auditor General for Wales and the Future Generations Commissioner in May 2020 and agree to undertake a wider examination of the Reports during the remainder of this Senedd.

A (virtual) Stakeholder Event was held on 12 October 2020 when over 50 participants discussed the Barriers to the successful Implementation of the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the challenges to ensuring the Act is implemented successfully in the future.

The Committee launched a consultation exercise on 12 October which closed on 27 November 2020.

Oral evidence sessions took place from December 2020 to February 2021.

The Committee’s Report was published on 17 March 2021 and a Plenary Debate was held on 24 March 2021.

The responses to the Committee’s Report will be considered by the successor Committee in the Sixth Senedd.