PRESS RELEASE : Welsh Conservatives oppose Social Partnership and Procurement Bill [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Welsh Conservatives on 29 November 2022.

On Tuesday, the Senedd met to discuss the completion of the first of four stages in passing the a new social partnership Bill.

The Welsh Conservatives have criticised the proposed Bill arguing that its purpose and aims are unclear and much of the policy is already in place, meaning more red tape that will require considerably more public sector working hours to produce overlapping paperwork.

Outside bodies who will be affected by this legislation have said they find the proposed Bill confusing and unnecessary, stating that it will likely increase their workloads without providing any new benefits.

Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Social Partnership Minister, Joel James MS said:

“The Labour Government has completely failed to communicate what problem it is trying to solve in creating this Bill.

“Considerable expense will be incurred at the tax payers expense for another pointless Welsh Government Bill that does not have any measurable outcomes, and like the Future Generations Bill the Government has no way of enforcing these legal obligations.

“I think this government is wasting time on this superfluous legislation whilst ignoring the real needs of businesses, which is the upskilling staff and working with businesses to create market conditions for them to flourish.”

Speaking in the debate, Joel described this legislation as “another red tape tick box exercise” adding that it would only “increase already considerable administrative workloads”. Joel also noted ‘several serious flaws’ within the proposed Bill. Placing a ‘statutory requirement on public bodies to reach consensus with trade unions’ means trade unions have another tool to disrupt the work of public bodies if their demands are not met.