This idea has been created by the Scrutinise team as a historical case study. It represents real legislation that reached the statute book through civil society advocacy. It is presented here to show how that process might have looked on Scrutinise.
Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015
Required Welsh public bodies to consider the long-term sustainability of their decisions, established seven well-being goals, and created the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales — the first such role in the world. A genuine Welsh legislative innovation with no UK equivalent.
Summary
Required Welsh public bodies to consider the long-term sustainability of their decisions, established seven well-being goals, and created the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales — the first such role in the world. A genuine Welsh legislative innovation with no UK equivalent.
Challenge (summary)
Public bodies in Wales consistently made decisions that benefited the short term at the expense of future generations — infrastructure choices, environmental decisions, economic development — with no statutory obligation to consider long-term impact.
Approach (summary)
A statutory duty on all Welsh public bodies to carry out sustainable development, defined by seven well-being goals and enforced by an independent Commissioner with review powers.
First step (summary)
Introduce the Well-being of Future Generations Bill through the Senedd, establishing the seven goals (prosperity, resilience, equality, health, cohesion, culture, global responsibility), creating the Commissioner role with power to review and make recommendations, and requiring well-being objectives from all public bodies.