That was the topic under discussion when SCI brought together representatives from government, private sector, trade unions, NDPBs, regulators, funders and a range of civil society partners.
Set against the backdrop of inequality and concerns about the failure of public services, delegates heard about the experiences of other countries that have taken legislative action to improve wellbeing outcomes.
Hosted by Tara Mills, the convening involved analysis and insights from an international panel of experts, and reflections and commentary from a range of perspectives in NI
Sarah Davidson, CEO of Carnegie UK challenged us to move away from the narrow measure of GDP which she described as a ‘blunt tool’ , towards adopting a wellbeing approach as has been done in Scotland, Wales and New Zealand She emphasised the gap between what GDP measures and people’s lived reality, and espoused a move towards “Measuring What Matters” to provide a wider set of social, economic and environmental indicators. Sarah highlighted that the delivery of social progress requires a joined-up approach across local and central government, with a focus on priorities and prevention, and most importantly the recognition that choices in the moment may not be what is appropriate for the future.
Participants heard lessons arising from the introduction of the Well Being of Future Generation (Wales) Act 2015.This groundbreaking Act places a legal duty on every part of government in Wales to improve wellbeing and introduced duties on ‘ways of working’ The Act established a Future Generation Commission, and gave Audit Wales a central role around strengthening accountability and reporting.
Jane Davidson, one of the architects of the Welsh act and author of #futuregen Lessons from a Small Country, explained that the Act is essentially about making better decisions and ensuring good governance. She emphasised how important it was for the Act to focus on both the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ , giving equal attention to the wellbeing goals and how they would be achieved. Significantly, it moved away from encouraging change –the concepts of ‘promoting’ and ‘due regard’ – towards requiring action‘must do’ . The strength of the duty is essential to holding those in power to account
“My only recommendation is - if you are going to make it a law, make it a law to deliver.”
JaneDavidson
WatchJaneʼsfullvideo
Jonny Tench (Office of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales), Catryn Holzinger (Audit Wales) and Dave Williams (Queen Elizabeth High School, Camarthen) provided examples of how the Act is making a difference Jonny talked about how the Future Generations Commissioner is raising public consciousness of the needs of future generations, and how the Act is contributing to more integrated policy making and joined up actions across public services. Catryn Holzinger reflected on how they, as auditors, are ensuring that value for money is considered in terms of the sustainable development principle, taking long-term impacts into account
At the service delivery level, Dave Williams talked about how key elements of the Act – particularly the focus on involvement and taking a more preventative approach – had transformed relationships between local educators, local authorities and the Welsh Government on education delivery and strategy A ‘future generations mindset’ had helped him as an educator better connect schools to their communities.
A panel representing a range of NI perspectives were asked to respond to what they had heard
Daniel Holder from the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) captured the sentiment in the room by remarking how he was ‘jealous of what had been put in place in Wales’ Daniel reflected on failed promises to deliver across multiple policy areas in NI including anti-poverty and social inclusion and felt there was something appealing about having an overarching framework.
Margaret Kelly, the Public Service Ombudsman, emphasized how important it is to provide citizens with clarity around public services, policies and procedures and to move away from short termism to long term visioning.
“The framework gave an overarching clarity that would be really helpful to public bodies.”
MargaretKelly
Amie Gallagher from the Focus initiative in Derry commented that it was refreshing to see an Act being implemented and the critical role of accountability structures in supporting that She also noted as a community development worker, the potential of a wellbeing legislative approach such as in Wales to put the key concerns of the community and voluntary sector at the top of the agenda
Dawn Shackels of the Community Foundation Northern Ireland (CFNI) highlighted a growing disconnect between communities, politics and civic structures, and a need for more collaborative and integrated working across government and between government and the third sector She suggested that legislation could provide a shared vision and enhance communities’ ability to challenge and hold public services to account.
The discussions among delegates through table conversations revolved around issues of accountability, political leadership, short-termism and failed implementation. The need for something akin to Wales was strongly felt, reflecting a collective frustration across sectors that we can’t keep doing the same things and expect change.
Key suggestions included a fundamental re-think in public service to build an environment that enables more effective ways of working, developing capacity so that people, communities and civil society can better hold government to account, and taking measures to ensure more effective policy implementation.
We have reflected below key takeaways and next steps from all we heard
“I felt energised and enthused by what we heard from other jurisdictions and the potential we have to adapt it to Northern Ireland.”
DawnShackels
KeyTakeawaysandActions
Thereisaneedandan opportunitytoactnow
The return of the NI Executive presents a unique opportunity to develop world-leading legislation that would firmly place reducing inequalities and improving wellbeing for present and future generations at the heart of government planning, decision-making and ways of working.
Our approach should build on theexperiencesofotherplaces whileadaptingtotheNorthern Irelandcontext
The NI Executive should establish the best way to introduce and implement a coherent legislative framework to reduce inequalities and improve wellbeing, building on our own foundations while learning the lessons of others to accelerate our progress.
A universal legal duty across the whole of government to act to improve wellbeing and reduce inequality The duty must be to deliver against agreed wellbeing goals, not to promote or pay regard to, and should sit above and endure beyond a Programme for Government
“One of the things that had resonated with me today is the importance of involving citizens in developing that vision for a good society”
SarahDavidson
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Duties that mandate ‘how’ to go about delivery. The framework should require new, more effective ways of working to tackle barriers to implementation and support the delivery of better outcomes across whole of government. For instance, duties to collaborate, integrate, prevent, involve the public and think long-term
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A strengthened public accountability framework with independent roles and mechanisms to champion and protect future generations, and audit the delivery of sustainable and fair outcomes on behalf of the NI Executive
KeyTakeawaysandActions
This is an opportunity to make fundamental positive changes in publicservicecultureandpractice
Evidence from elsewhere suggests that effective implementation of a legislative framework on wellbeing could support a fundamental, positive shift in government culture and practice in Northern Ireland. It offers the potential to release ambition and creativity in our public services, enabling deep structural challenges to be better tackled, and to define a new concept of public value to guide our immediate and long-term decision making. It will need time, support and capacity development.
Thenextstepistocommittomakingthechange
A necessary next step is a commitment from the NI Executive, in the forthcoming Programme for Government, to pursuing a legislative approach to improving wellbeing and reducing inequalities The community and voluntary sector, civil society and the public must be fully involved in the development of that approach.
“There’s no cultural change without collaboration - you have to collaborate with civic society, public bodies, with government.”
MargaretKelly
WatchMargaretʼsfullvideo
“The Act’s translatability to other countries Is directly linked to the culture, environment, society and economy of that country.”
WatchJaneʼsfullvideo
SCI is committed to playing its full part in supporting efforts to hardwire fairness and sustainability into public policies and systems It would be great to carry on the conversations to move the vision of reducing inequalities and improving wellbeing to a lived reality for everyone To discuss how we work together or for further information, please contact p.quirk@socialchangeinitiative.com. Wanttotalkaboutthis?
