Social Partnership Report 2024-2025

This report lays out how Powys County Council met the Social Partnership duty during 2024/25, as introduced under section 16 of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023.  

Summary

The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (The SPPP Act) requires the council, as a public body, to produce an annual report to evidence how they have complied with the Social Partnership Duty. This report must be submitted to the Social Partnership Council (SCP) for scrutiny. Section 18 of the Act states:

Social Partnership reports:

1. A public body must prepare, in respect of each financial year, a report of what it has done to comply with the duty.
2. The report must be agreed with the public body's recognised trade unions or (where there is no recognised trade union) other representatives of its staff or contain a statement explaining why it was not agreed.
3. The public body must publish the report, and submit it to the SPC, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the financial year.

The SPPP Act does not provide a template for the Annual Report. This report summarises the actions taken with the Council's recognised trade unions to implement the duty in Powys County Council.

Background

The SPPP Act provides for a framework to enhance the well-being of the people of Wales by improving public services through social partnership working, promoting fair work and socially responsible public procurement. It is intended to complement other legislation, including the Socio-economic Duty set out in the Equality Act 2010 and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (WFGA 2015).

The SPPP Act requires the Council, in carrying out sustainable development, in so far as is reasonable, to seek consensus or compromise with their recognised trade unions, when setting their well-being objectives (in line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015) and making decisions of a strategic nature about the reasonable steps they intend to take to deliver those objectives set.

To this end, Section 16(2) of the SPPP Act sets out a number of specific requirements relating to the Duty, which the council must comply with when 'seeking consensus or compromise'. The requirements are intended to ensure that trade unions are fully and properly involved when a public body sets its well-being objectives, or when making strategic decisions. It states that: in order to seek consensus or compromise, a public body must include its recognised trade unions or other representatives of its staff in the process of setting objectives or making decisions about implementing strategic wellbeing objectives, by (in particular):-

(a)  consulting them at a formative stage of the process, and

(b)  otherwise involving them throughout the process by:

(i)  providing sufficient information to enable them to properly consider what is proposed, and

(ii)   providing sufficient time to enable them to adequately consider what is proposed and respond.

This report sets out the arrangements at Powys to involve the recognised trade unions in these important matters.

Our Approach at Powys

Our corporate planning and reporting

Through the good working and employee relations the Council enjoys with the recognised trade unions, we have an excellent track record of working in partnership with trade union colleagues and we were confident therefore that we already met some aspects of the legislation. Recognising too that we could further develop our comprehensive consultation and involvement arrangements, to ensure that the trade unions were consulted / involved in the further development of our corporate objectives and plans, including those related to our well-being objectives.

In particular, following the formation of a new administration during 2022, a new Corporate Strategic Equality Plan (CSEP), Stronger, Fairer, Greener, was implemented from 2023, which will bring our three corporate well-being objectives to life. These being: -

1. We will improve people's awareness of services, and how to access them, so that they can make informed choices.
2. We will support good quality, sustainable, employment, providing training opportunities, and pursuing real living wage employer accreditation.
3. We will work to tackle poverty and inequality to support the well-being of the people of Powys.

The CSEP was updated further earlier this year, and progress towards achieving the Plan is reported publicly through Cabinet and Scrutiny twice each year using the Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan Scorecard on the Council's website. An important element of our planning is to further develop a sustainable organisation, fit for purpose now and for years to come.

As the Corporate and Strategic Equality Plan (2023), its most recent update (2025), the annual Corporate Self-Assessment mid-year progress report and our approach to developing a new sustainable organisation (Sustainable Powys) were formed / implemented, the plans for each were shared with the recognised trade unions at a formative stage providing opportunity for their comments and contribution.

Consultation and involvement arrangements

The Council has comprehensive arrangements in place to involve and consult the trade unions, comprising a Joint Consultation and Negotiating Committee each quarter, a corporate Health and Safety Forum each quarter, both of which are also attended by Members and Senior Leaders. Regular consultation meetings also take place with trade unions at department level, with Directors and Senior Leaders and Trade Unions contribute fully into those forums. In addition, officers and Trade Unions have good working relationships and work proactively together on a range of individual and team matters.

This inclusive framework provides a comprehensive and meaningful opportunity to involve and consult local and regional trade unions officers about matters relating to employment in general, and plans relating to the CSEP and social partnership. This also provides the unions with the opportunity to explore any particular matters of interest or concern with the officers in the Services leading on and shaping those proposals. In addition to the value recognised by the Council of Trade Unions involvement in the CSEP and service led proposals, the Council recognises their involvement in the appointment of key senior officers of the Council. those officers who will be responsible for driving forward plans to meet the objectives set out in the CSEP

Importantly, as part of this, social partnership is included as a standing item on the agenda of the Corporate Services (Departmental) Consultation Forum, so that colleagues who lead on the corporate plan and workforce matters ensure that trade unions colleagues can be consulted and involved.

Reflection about the first year

The Council currently provides facility time to 2.6 FTE trade union officers (Unison and Unite) and provide for a further 1.0 FTE role for GMB, which has been vacant for some time. The union officers in Powys have a limited number of stewards available to them, which means they spend the vast majority of their time supporting members with employee relations casework and members who are going through workforce change.

As a consequence, they have little time to engage in strategic considerations, including social partnership. Whilst the Council welcomes and encourages trade union membership, the number of stewards available to support the activity of the unions and their memberships is not likely to change in the short term, if at all. This is explored further in the following section about further arrangements.

Frameworks have therefore been established that align to the principles of social partnership and further consideration to how we can increase utilisation of those frameworks will continue.

Steps to develop our arrangements further

Each directorate meets with the trade unions each quarter, some more frequently on a monthly basis. The purpose of these consultative meetings is to discuss strategic and local issues relevant to that directorate. Social Partnership will be added as a meetings, in order to provide a further opportunity to discuss any strategic ways in which the directorate plans to and is implementing their actions laid out in the CSEP. This will help to provide greater visibility, give greater assurance that Services consult and involve the trade unions and provides an opportunity so share and highlight progress made.

Recognising that the trade unions have a limited number of stewards available to support their memberships and the impact that this has on the time available for trade unions officers for strategic matters and social partnership working, we will review the situation and solutions collectively in partnership. It is also anticipated that greater availability will enable Trade Unions to be actively involved in job evaluation processes.

Officer contact information: 
Gemma Gabriel,
Professional Lead Human Resource Management and Development
Email: gemma.gabriel@powys.gov.uk