Wellbeing and Sustainable Development (Scotland) Bill

A legal definition of wellbeing in the Bill is key in order to provide clarity for public sector duties and for accountability.

Cycling UK does not have a firm position on the definitions in this consultation, however we highlight as valuable to the debate the one proposed by Scotland’s International Development Alliance, as follows:

“Collective wellbeing is the progressive realisation of social, economic, environmental and democratic outcomes which enable people to meet their needs, as identified through consultation with the people of Scotland, pursued in a way that reduces inequalities in wellbeing between different groups. It also recognises the importance of protecting the interests and needs of future generations and fostering intergenerational equity.”

We agree that the definition of sustainable development must recognise the needs of future generations but it must not compromise the ability of the ability of people anywhere on earth to meet their own needs now or in the future and also for nature to thrive now and in the future.

“Sustainable Development can be defined as the development of human societies
based on fair shares of planetary boundaries, and which equitably support the
capability of present and future generations across the world to meet their needs.”

This legislation should ensure that decisions made by governments and public bodies do not have negative consequences for now or the future. It should be used to improve decision-making in order to prevent problems from occurring in future.

Cycling UK wants this legislation to be used to inform decision-making which results in improvement to national health and wellbeing including addressing the challenge of physical inactivity. We also foresee this legislation supporting action to address climate change and environmental degradation.

The Bill would naturally link with the National Outcomes in the National
Performance Framework. Cycling UK is particularly keen to see improvement in National Outcome indicator measuring ‘journeys by active travel’.

We believe that the WSD Bill could strengthen existing duties in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 which requires all Scottish public bodies, in exercising their functions, to act in the way they consider ‘most sustainable’. The current requirement in this Act is too open to interpretation at present.

The WSD Bill definition and duties could also strengthen implementation of Acts of Parliament which influence planning and transport infrastructure by ensuring that delivery of projects are planned according to the definitions.

Duties in the WSD Bill should apply to the Scottish Government in addition to public bodies.

The Bill should build on, and strengthen, current duties on Scottish Ministers
to take account of, and effectively work towards, wellbeing, sustainable development, and the delivery of the National Outcomes.

We do not believe that there should be any public bodies in Scotland exempted from the duties.

Cycling UK wants to see Scotland establish an independent Commissioner for Future Generations. As a UK charity also working in Wales, we have the seen the benefit of the work of the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales.

Wales’s Future Generations Commissioner played a key role in steering the Welsh Government away from spending huge amounts of money on the M4 Gwent Levels scheme. Instead, the Welsh Government set up the Burns Commission which recommended a package of public transport, active travel, land-use planning and other measures. This package is much more likely to meet a wide range of sustainable development goals, and is far less likely to be a decision that future generations will wish had not been taken.
https://research.senedd.wales/research-articles/a-network-of-alternatives-to-the-m4-relief-road-burns-commission-publishes-its-final-recommendations/

We would like a Commissioner to be active in scrutinising and making recommendations to future-proof major decisions, such as Bills and Budgets. We believe the Commissioner can also have a valuable role in scrutinising strategies, frameworks and policies which have long-lasting impact, i.e. which will have consequences for future generations and are not easily reversible, e.g. making recommendations on a future Strategic Transport Project Review. A Commissioner must ensure that future generations will not regret decisions and actions taken by politicians today.

The Commissioner could also have a role as a focal point as an expert and leader on wellbeing and sustainable development in Scotland.