Today in the Senedd chamber, Joel James MS, has denounced the Welsh Labour Government over the Well-being and Future Generations national implementation.
A recent report has shown significant areas where the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner has been failing, and where public bodies in Wales have felt totally unsupported.
The problem the Welsh Government has had, to implementing the act, as South Wales Fire and Rescue service felt, comes from the fact that the Commissioner’s office had “limited understanding of how public sector organisations work along with the constraints they are expected to work within.”
Moreover, recommendations made by the Commissioner were very often not discussed with public bodies before being published and “displayed limited understanding of the geographic, financial and strategic considerations of [the] organisations.”
The NHS Confederation goes a step further, highlighting, that they are unsure about what level of support they can expect; that the implementation of the Act is not always clear; and that they would actually welcome more practical support from the Commissioner’s Office.
A startling 87% of the Welsh public are unaware of the Wellbeing and Future Generations Act, and 8% of Welsh public bodies haven’t heard of it either.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Social Partnership, Joel James MS said:
“This is damning report on Labour’s once flagship policy.
“Again, we see the Labour Government failing the deliver, and it’s lack of support has only compounded the failures from the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner.
“The £1.5M per year budget of the Commissioner’s office would be better spent helping the very poorest pay to heat their homes, or pay their water bill”
“The Labour Government must get a grip of what the Commissioner is actually providing, as it’s extremely concerning to see just how few people and communities in Wales know of the work it’s supposed to be doing.
“One of the few things the Commissioner’s office has done is call for the fantasy idea of Universal Basic Income, which has repeatedly been abandoned in other countries. This office does not provide value for money for the taxpayer.”