Written question WQ88435
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Social Justice and Chief Whip
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 10 days
Question
Will the Minister outline the nature and objective of the nearly £1 million spending item for social partnerships sites in the BEL table of the Welsh Government's 2023-34 budget?
Answer
Answered by Deputy Minister for Social Partnership
The Social Partnerships Budget Expenditure Line (BEL) is allocated to the Social Partnership, Employment and Fair Work (SPEFW) Group to help deliver multiple interconnected priorities within the SPEFW arena. It is used to fund a range of initiatives which promote and embed social partnership as an approach to policy making, along with driving Ministers’ ambitions for Wales to be a fair work nation.
For 2023/24, the Social Partnership BEL will fund the implementation of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act, which became law on 24 May 2023 putting social partnership on a statutory footing in Wales.
This will include developing events, guidance and training to prepare public bodies and other social partners for the new duties set out in the Act, and programme costs (i.e. staffing resources) including secondment costs to further involve social partners from the private and public sectors and trade unions in our work, thus strengthening the tripartite approach to policy and decision-making that underpins the concept of social partnership.