Meeting of the Parliament 22 January 2026 [Draft]
This has been a long journey. I thank the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, the clerks and all the stakeholders who contributed to the consultation that the committee conducted in advance of today’s debate. I also thank those who have worked with me over the past few years to enable me to get to this point, and the fantastic non-Government bills unit team, without whose support I would not be here today.
I started work on my bill in 2021. Support for legislation on wellbeing and sustainable development, with clear definitions, a public duty and a commissioner who could deliver accountability, guidance and advice and hold the Government and public sector bodies to account was included not only in the Scottish Labour manifesto; other parties signed up to a wellbeing and sustainable development bill, too.
I held several round-table sessions with key stakeholders to ensure that I understood their views. In response to my consultation, there was overwhelmingly positive support for a public duty, a clear definition and the establishment of a commissioner who could provide advice and guidance and who, critically, would have investigatory powers, the need for which is referenced in the committee’s report.
When the Scottish Government announced its intention to lodge a bill of its own and initiated its consultation, I was disappointed, because I thought that if the Scottish Government progressed its bill, my bill would have to fall. However, I remembered the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and the fact that I was able to persuade the then Deputy First Minister to include the proposal in my draft member’s bill that all new housing developments would have to include some form of renewables. That was successful.
I also thought that I would be able to feed in the incredibly valuable insights on issues that people had raised with me, such as procurement, which was not covered in my draft bill, and how to achieve a joined-up approach that would link wellbeing and sustainable development directly to the national performance framework, on which the Government could be held to account to ensure that it was effectively implemented. I also wanted clarity to be provided on the definitions of wellbeing and sustainable development, which are mentioned in a number of pieces of legislation.