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United Kingdom

National Indicators for Wales (UK0088)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: United Kingdom – Third National Action Plan 2016-18

Action Plan Cycle: 2016

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Welsh Government

Support Institution(s): NA

Policy Areas

Fiscal Transparency, Legislation & Regulation, Oversight of Budget/Fiscal Policies, Public Participation, Subnational

IRM Review

IRM Report: United Kingdom End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, United Kingdom Mid-Term Report 2016-2018

Starred: Yes Starred

Early Results: Major Major

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information Civic Participation

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Commitment Text: To measure progress towards the achievement of the seven well-being
goals for Wales set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and report on
them annually.
Objective: In order to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of
Wales the Welsh Government has developed a set of National Indicators to measure progress
against the 7 well-being goals outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. In
doing so an open and transparent approach is being taken in the development and communication
of the National Indicators and the data that underpins them.
Status quo: Measuring national progress against the seven well-being goals for Wales set out in
the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Ambition: If we are to collectively achieve the seven well-being goals set out in the Well-being of
Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, we need a way of measuring, at a national level, what
progress is being made. The 46 National Indicators for Wales are intended to measure progress
against the seven well-being goals and have been prepared following public consultation. They will be
reported on annually through a ‘Well-being Report for Wales’.
Milestones:
1. Lay the ‘National Indicators for Wales’ before the National Assembly for Wales
2. Produce the first Annual Well-being Report for Wales

IRM End of Term Status Summary

✪8. Well-being of Future Generations Act – National Indicators for Wales (Wales)

Commitment Text:To measure progress towards the achievement of the seven well-being goals for Wales set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and report on them annually.

Objective:In order to improve the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales the Welsh Government has developed a set of National Indicators to measure progress against the 7 well-being goals outlined in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. In doing so an open and transparent approach is being taken in the development and communication of the National Indicators and the data that underpins them.

Status quo:Measuring national progress against the seven well-being goals for Wales set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

Ambition:If we are to collectively achieve the seven well-being goals set out in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, we need a way of measuring, at a national level, what progress is being made. The 46 National Indicators for Wales are intended to measure progress against the seven well-being goals and have been prepared following public consultation. They will be reported on annually through a ‘Well-being Report for Wales'.

Milestones:

1. Lay the ‘National Indicators for Wales' before the National Assembly for Wales

2. Produce the first Annual Well-being Report for Wales

Responsible institution: Welsh government

Supporting institutions: Specified public bodies under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, Auditor General for Wales

Start date: March 2016

End date: Early 2017

Editorial note: This commitment is clearly relevant to OGP values as written, has transformative potential impact, and is substantially or completely implemented and therefore qualifies as a starred commitment.

Commitment Aim:

In 2015, the National Assembly of Wales passed the Well-being of Future Generations Act.[Note 230: Welsh Government, Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, http://gov.wales/topics/people-and-communities/people/future-generations-act/?lang=en, and National Assembly for Wales Research Service, The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015: What is it and what does it mean for Wales?, https://assemblyinbrief.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/the-well-being-of-future-generations-wales-act-2015-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-wales/ ] The Act ‘aims to improve the social, economic and cultural well-being of Wales by placing a duty on public bodies to think in a more sustainable and long-term way through seven goals'.[Note 231: The seven goals are a prosperous Wales, a resilient Wales, a healthier Wales, a more equal Wales, a Wales of cohesive communities, a Wales of vibrant culture and Welsh language and a globally responsible Wales.] The public bodies include the devolved and local government, the Welsh National Health Service and various other institutions, such as Sport Wales and the National Library of Wales.

In terms of transparency and openness, the Act ‘puts in place seven well-being goals that public bodies must work to achieve and take into consideration across all their decision-making' based on 46 indicators.[Note 232: The goals are listed here and fit with five long-term needs: Long-term thinking, Prevention, Integration, Collaboration, Involvement, National Assembly for Wales Research Service, The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015: What is it and what does it mean for Wales?, https://assemblyinbrief.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/the-well-being-of-future-generations-wales-act-2015-what-is-it-and-what-does-it-mean-for-wales/]

Status

Midterm: Substantial

At the end of the first year of implementation, the government had made substantial progress on the commitment. The indicators and goals were developed after an extensive national conversation with civil society and other bodies.[Note 233: WCVA, ‘The Future Generations Act-All You Need to Know', https://www.wcva.org.uk/what-we-do/the-future-generations-(wales)-act-all-you-need-to-know, and WCVA, ‘Talking Future Generations: The Conversation So Far' Stakeholder Event Report', https://www.wcva.org.uk/media/4657899/stakeholder-event-report-english-281016-small-without-watermark.pdf ] Before becoming law parts of the bill were criticised but it changed as it developed.[Note 234: BBC, Welsh government's well-being bill has 'no clear purpose', http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-31802841 ] The Welsh Government published the well-being objectives in November 2016.[Note 235: Welsh Government, ‘Written Statement - Taking Wales Forward: The Welsh Government's well-being objectives', http://gov.wales/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2016-new/wellbeingobjectives/?lang=en] The Welsh Commissioner for Future Generations welcomed the publication as a significant step forward for transparency.[Note 236: Future Generations, Commissioner for Wales ‘Commissioner responds to Welsh Government well-being objectives', https://futuregenerations.wales/news/commissioner-responds-to-welsh-government-well-being-objectives/ ]

The government's first Annual Well-Being report for Wales, which makes up milestone 2, was slightly behind schedule but was published in September 2017.[Note 237: Interview with Rhiannon Caunt, Welsh Government, 6 September 2017, and Welsh Government (2017), Well-Being of Wales 2016-2017, http://gov.wales/docs/statistics/2017/170925-well-being-wales-2016-17-en.pdf]

End of Term: Complete

The commitment was completed when the first Annual Well-Being report was published.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Major

Civic Participation: Major

The commitment has increased access to information by making more data available in an easier to use and access way, on the actions of government (and other) bodies across a range of subjects, with data on health, language and employment all published, for the first time, in one place and presented in an easy to interpret format, with links to sources and further explanation. The Well Being data covers 46 different areas, from air pollution to lifestyle choices, and museums to language abilities. Some of the data was already available but some appears to have been collated and further developed by the plan itself. The Welsh government pointed out that the commitment has led to ‘additional breakdowns by geographical area or population group where this has been possible'.[Note 238: Welsh Government (2017), Well Being Report, https://gov.wales/statistics-and-research/well-being-wales/?lang=en ] Wales' chief statistician Glyn Jones said the commitment was ‘important' in ‘bringing together a range of statistics on a wide range of topics' that could work as a benchmark'.[Note 239: BBC (2017), Well-being progress made but challenges remain, report says, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-41386999 ] In May 2018 the Future Generations Commissioner, reflecting on the law and data, praised the release but spoke of the need to keep information simple and involve the public in creation of the reports.[Note 240: Future Generations Commissioner Wales (2018), Well-being in Wales: the journey so far Future Generations Commissioner for Wales May 2018, http://futuregenerations.wales/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FGCW-1-year-Report-_English.pdf]

In terms of civic participation, the well-being plan is specifically designed to encourage integration, collaboration and involvement and ‘place well-being at the heart of regeneration policy'. One recent academic study argued that the well-being Act had been part of a suite of changes in Wales that had helped' increase opportunities for local people to have a voice in the planning process', though they ‘warned that there must be awareness of pressures on overburdened, under-resourced local authorities'.[Note 241: Jones, M. and Spence, A. (2017) Empowering local people through the planning process: The emerging practice of Place Planning and its contribution to community well-being in Wales. In: Brotas, L., Roaf, S. and Nicol, F., eds. (2017) Design to Thrive. Edinburgh, UK: Network for Comfort and Energy Use in Buildings, pp. 4493-4500] The law has led to experiments with online toolkits, ‘Shape my town', built to assist local community groups, and this has helped local groups get involved in urban development and planning projects in various Welsh towns, as well as Welsh National Parks.

Carried Forward?

This commitment was not carried forward.

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