10 years of the Well-being of Future Generations Act in Wales

This is the first in a short series of blogs to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act. This opening blog, from CLES’s Sarah Evans, focusses on the implementation of the Act, and considers what has worked and what have been the challenges. For those not familiar with the Act, it sets out Wales’s vision for a sustainable future and requires public bodies in Wales to consider the long-term impact of their decisions, work collaboratively with people, communities and each other, and to take action to prevent persistent challenges such as poverty, health inequalities and climate change.

When the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act was first implemented I was working at Glyndwr University and I remember being inspired about how it could shape our local and regional public services.

At the University we were beginning to engage with a number of public sector organisations to explore systems thinking and everyone seemed motivated by the change. At the time, anything seemed possible: the Act was, and still is, a pioneering piece of legislation – the first of its kind in the world.

“ahead of its time”

Ten years on, a global pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis have exacerbated other, small and larger changes in the economic lives of our places, and our public services have usually been the ones to pick up the pieces. Today, the scale of financial and demand pressures facing the public sector seem to have escalated further with many public bodies constantly firefighting, rather than being able to invest in prevention and planning for longer term change. In that light, the Act can be seen to have been ahead of its time – quite literally ahead of the crises – and primed for use now, in the changed world in which we find ourselves.

So what have been the successes of the implementation of the Act? There have been lots of smaller, organisational changes that have positively impacted outcomes at a local level, particularly the work related to local procurement, such as the Carmarthenshire First policy and the campaigning that Food Sense Wales have done to get locally grown vegetables onto the plates of some of our school children.

However, the sad truth is that we are yet to see the system changes that many of us hoped for. The Future Generations Report 2025 and Audit Wales’ report on the lessons from their work under the Act make for interesting, if a little depressing, reading.

“try harder, go further and go faster”

The Future Generations Commissioner and the Auditor General seem to be on the same page with their messaging and recommendations, with both noting that there is much to be proud of on Wales’ well-being journey over the past decade. However, there are also some clear messages, many of which are aimed at the Welsh Government, saying we must try harder, go further and go faster. The title of the Auditor General’s report, No time to lose, sums this up.

Audit Wales’ report highlights the implementation barriers and challenges they have found in their work with public bodies, many of which sit within the remit of the Welsh Government and senior local leaders. The report explains that, although some legislation and guidance has evolved since the implementation of the Act, many key policies remain unchanged. This has meant that many of those working to implement sustainable development have faced conflicting legal requirements that create uncertainty and are dealing with outdated policies, processes and attitudes that undermine progress.

The Auditor General also highlights the need for leadership approaches in Wales to change if the Act is to be successfully implemented, stating:

“Where I see exceptional implementation of the WFG Act, bold leadership in support of brave decisions, at all levels of an organisation, is a strong and recurrent theme. But this is not happening across Cymru. Successive First Ministers have demonstrated a strong commitment to sustainable development and to the WFG Act over the past decade. This top-level leadership must continue to encourage the bold leadership needed across our public bodies”.

The lack of significant progress can also be seen in the Well-being of Wales Report, which tracks collective public sector progress towards the national well-being goals using 50 indicators and provides insight into how effectively the Act is being implemented. The latest report, published in September 2024, presents a mixed picture. Some indicators have improved, such as the overall employment rate. However, many milestones have remained stagnant or declined. This national analysis highlights a growing divide in well-being. While conditions may be improving for some of the most affluent communities in Wales, they are getting worse for the people and communities who face barriers and multiple disadvantages.

“post legislative review”

Within their recent reports, both the Future Generations Commissioner and the Auditor General call on Welsh Government to commit to a post legislative review of the Act, to strengthen its impact and to prepare for updates to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2030.

“the next 10 years”

So, what might the next 10 years hold for the Well-being of Future Generations Act? The Auditor General’s call for a fresh approach to performance and impact assessment is a timely reminder that we need to refocus on the core purpose of the Act: to embed long-term thinking, prevention and collaboration in everything we do. This means not only measuring what matters but also being bold enough to challenge the outdated systems that no longer serve us.

When I think back to the optimism I felt a decade ago, I still believe in the Act’s potential to drive real change. The need is even more urgent now, and with renewed leadership, commitment and courage, the next chapter of Wales’s well-being journey could finally deliver on that early promise.