Module 7: Strengthening accountability for progress
Module 5 described how wellbeing measurement frameworks can serve as a public accountability tool that allows people to assess their country, region or city’s progress towards wellbeing goals. However, wellbeing measurement frameworks create only a very basic level of accountability. A good accountability framework needs to do more than report on wellbeing metrics. It needs to report on the public decisions and actions taken and their impacts on the wellbeing of people and the planet [1].
Wales is an inspiring example of a country that has taken accountability for wellbeing to the next level. Wales’ devolutionary legislation, the Government of Wales Act 1998, includes a duty for the government to promote sustainable development when carrying out its functions. In her book, Futuregen, Jane Davidson, a senior minister in the Welsh government from 1999 to 2011, has described how three governments tried over 15 years to deliver on this duty, without the expected results [2]. A Wales Audit Office report from 2010 stated that there was a ‘tick-box’ approach to sustainable development in government, where ministers and senior civil servants saw it as just one of a number of competing priorities [3].
These lessons led to the development of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act (2015), which has a clear focus on accountability for delivery. The next section will explain all about how the Act works.
References
[1] Centre for Policy Development (2022). Redefining progress: Global lessons for an Australian approach to wellbeing, https://cpd.org.au/work/redefining-progress-report-australia-wellbeing/
[2] Davidson, J. (2022). Futuregen. Lessons from a small country. Chelsea Green Publishing.
[3] Wales Audit Office (2010). Sustainable Decision Making in Welsh Assembly Government.