Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Outcome Delivery Plan: 2021 to 2022

Foreword

Like all other government departments, the focus of the Office for the Secretary of State for Wales (OSSW) over the past 12 months has been on playing our part in the fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) and ensuring that Wales receives the support it needs from the UK government. Whilst that fight is far from over it is now time for us to devote the same energy and determination to leading the economic recovery in Wales. We want to build back better in Wales as part of levelling up our whole United Kingdom.

Our number one priority will be jobs. We’re backing business large and small through the government’s Plan for Jobs and creating green jobs with the government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. This Outcome Delivery Plan sets out the foundations for the economic growth that will drive the recovery: improving our
infrastructure, notably digital, transport and energy; securing the investment to grow the industries of the future, particularly to help deliver our net zero ambitions; and at the same time supporting the sectors that will remain critical to the Welsh economy, such as agriculture, tourism and hospitality. 

The plan also reflects the importance of fully realising the benefits that Wales enjoys by virtue of being part of the United Kingdom, as has been evident throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Similarly, we need to highlight and build on the contribution that Wales makes to that Union. The Wales Office’s vision is for a flourishing Wales within a strong United Kingdom and this Plan sets us on that path.

A. Executive summary

Our vision

Our vision is to support a flourishing Wales within a strong United Kingdom.

Our values

The delivery of our vision is underpinned by our values. The OSSW is committed to ensuring that all our staff demonstrate exemplary behaviours in all that they do and that our values are instrumental in delivering the department’s objectives. Our values are:

• Commitment – in our work and in our people
• Collaboration – establishing strong relationships
• Quality – in our delivery

Our mission

The OSSW supports the Secretary of State for Wales in promoting Welsh interests within a strong United Kingdom. We are the face of the UK government in Wales and the voice of Wales across Whitehall.

The OSSW is here to encourage, facilitate and support the following:

• Stimulate growth and the creation of sustainable jobs by supporting a strong Welsh economy within a flourishing global Britain and the UK internal market.
• Build a prosperous, low carbon, well connected Wales by ensuring that it benefits from plans to deliver growth and opportunity across the UK, including rural support and technology, seizing the opportunities of Brexit and looking to deliver on the PM’s commitment to accelerate projects across the UK. We will also continue to support improving connectivity across Wales and between Wales and the rest of the UK through the Union Connectivity Review
• Strengthen and protect Wales’s position within the UK by ensuring Wales maximises the benefits from its place within the Union.
• Ensure Wales’s interests are fully represented as the UK seizes the opportunities from the end of the Transition Period.

These priorities are primarily delivered through the OSSW working closely with lead policy departments.

Our priority outcomes

This delivery plan sets out in detail how we will deliver our priority outcomes, how we will measure our success and how we will ensure we continuously improve. Our priority outcomes are:

1. Support economic growth in Wales.
2. Strengthen and sustain the Union and Wales’s role within it.
3. Increase the visibility of the UK government’s commitment to
   Wales.

The OSSW also supports the delivery of the following priority outcome led by other departments:

Strategic enablers

To deliver our priority outcomes – and reinforce the ambitions of the Declaration on Government Reform – we will use these 4 key enablers:

1. Workforce, skills and location
2. Innovation, technology and data
3. Delivery, evaluation and collaboration
4. Sustainability

B. Introduction

1. Context

The Office is the only department within UK government with a specialist focus on Wales. In that context, the OSSW provides strategic advice and guidance to UK government departments about the application and implementation of policy in Wales, including expenditure in relation to those policies.

The OSSW has no programme spend nor any policy levers itself, and so relies on influencing and collaborating with departments in order to deliver the 3 priorities and contribute to achieving the cross-cutting priority in relation to Wales.

The OSSW also provides expert advice and guidance to other government departments on the Welsh devolution settlement and working with the Welsh Government, Senedd Cymru and other devolved institutions in Wales.

The OSSW’s priorities fully reflect its purpose: to promote economic growth in Wales and ensure that it occupies a strong and central role in our United Kingdom.

2. Governance and delivery agencies

The Departmental Board sets the OSSW’s strategic direction and work programme and reviews progress against delivery. It meets up to 6 times per year and Ministers attend at least 2 Board meetings annually. The Secretary of State for Wales chairs the Board when in attendance. The Director of the Office chairs the Board when Ministers
do not attend.

The OSSW has 2 committees reporting to the Departmental Board:

i. The Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC)
ii. The Health and Safety Committee

The ARAC is responsible for the oversight and proper delivery of departmental accounts, internal audit and strategic risk assurance. It escalates matters of strategic concern to the Departmental Board. The Committee operates in accordance with HM Treasury’s Audit Committee Handbook and meets quarterly. It is chaired by the OSSW’s lead Non-Executive Board Member (NEBM) and members include the OSSW’s second NEBM and an independent member (who is not a member of the Departmental Board).

The Health and Safety Committee is responsible for advising the Departmental Board on how best to ensure the OSSW provides a healthy and safe work environment for its staff, Ministers and visitors. It is chaired by the Head of Corporate Services and includes Trades Union representation. The Committee meets at least annually.

The OSSW’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) comprises the Director and deputy directors in the department. It meets weekly to discuss operational matters, including major developments, resourcing and budgetary issues. The Departmental Board may remit matters to the SLT for oversight and decision and the SLT may escalate matters to the Board for strategic oversight and decision.

Finally, the OSSW forms part of the UK Governance Group (UKGG)^{[footnote 1]}. The Director attends weekly meetings of the UKGG Senior Leadership Team to discuss matters relating to devolution and the constitution which cross departmental boundaries.

You can read further information about the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales.
The OSSW has no arms-length bodies.

3. Overview of strategic risk

The OSSW operates a Risk Management Policy Framework and Strategy, approved by the Departmental Board and ARAC. The strategy promotes a transparent and accountable culture in the OSSW to support a consistent, timely and effective management of risk.

The OSSW’s system of internal controls is designed to identify business risks (so far as possible within the Department’s control) and mitigate them in accordance with the risk appetite defined by the Departmental
Board. Strategic risks and their mitigations are quantified and assessed in a departmental Strategic Risk Register (SRR).

The SRR is reviewed regularly by the Senior Leadership Team and quarterly by the ARAC, which may decide to notify the Departmental Board if it considers inadequate controls are in place to mitigate strategic risks. The Departmental Board may decide to take action to implement or increase controls, or to delegate action to ARAC or the Senior Leadership Team to do so.

The SRR is underpinned by 5 Divisional Risk Registers (DRRs), with deputy directors responsible for maintaining them. The 5 DRRs cover:

• Private Office
• Communications
• Policy
• Union
• Corporate

Each is reviewed annually by ARAC in a deep dive format. The critical factors that impact the OSSW’s ability to deliver its strategic priorities include (but are not limited to) the following:

3.1 External influences

The key external influences on delivering the Office’s priorities are the UK government’s policy responses to COVID-19, including priorities for recovery from the pandemic over the short term, and the evolving policy response to EU transition.

The COVID-19 response influences delivery of the Office’s priorities in 2 ways. First, any delay in the UK returning to a “new normal”, post- pandemic, could push back timescales and delivery plans further. Second, continuing government financial support for businesses and employees to navigate through the pandemic risks more challenging public finances in future with which to deliver the government’s programme.

The OSSW will provide support to other government departments as they develop policy with significant Union implications and before departments engage with the Welsh government and other devolved Welsh institutions.

3.2 Workforce strategy

The OSSW has around 50 staff^{[footnote 2]} and is therefore vulnerable to supply and demand-side changes within the wider Civil Service workforce.

The OSSW seeks to ensure a settled workforce with an appropriate skill set to deliver its priorities and minimise the number of vacant posts, ensuring they are vacant for the shortest possible time. The OSSW has a People Plan and a Succession Plan to help ensure it retains the people it needs and has streamlined and improved recruitment
processes over the last year to minimise vacancy times (for example, by creating a reserves pool from which to appoint to vacant posts).

3.3 Financial environment

The OSSW has a small annual resource budget of around £5 million and £30,000 capital for 2021-22. 68% of the OSSW’s resource budget is spent on staff costs. Estimated annual staff costs for the OSSW’s lead divisions on each of the priorities is shown below. Other divisions also contribute to the delivery of these priorities, including Private Office and Corporate Services. Wales Office Legal Advisers’ (WOLA)^{[footnote 3]} costs are included with the Union Team.

The OSSW does not have a programme budget and relies on supporting, influencing and collaborating other government departments to deliver its priorities.

3.4 Stakeholders

The OSSW has a regular and close dialogue with key stakeholders in Wales, and especially with Welsh business and their representative organisations, universities, local authorities and the third sector. Ministers have regular discussions with Welsh businesses from all main sectors of the Welsh economy. These discussions provide a direct conduit between stakeholders and opinion formers in Wales and the UK cabinet, via the Secretary of State for Wales. The frequency and intensity of these discussions increased in the lead up to the end of the Transition Period and following the end of Transition.

The OSSW works closely with local government in Wales and our engagement on city and growth deals in Wales has helped a much closer relationship to develop. We want this relationship to become even closer as the UK government introduces the UK Community Renewal Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and UK Levelling Up Fund
in Wales.

Ministers also maintain regular dialogue with representatives of other sectors in Wales, including the third sector, higher and further education and representatives from the farming unions.

3.5 Opportunities and threats

There are many exciting opportunities for Wales in delivering our priorities. The OSSW is determined to make the most of the UK becoming an independent trading nation; to ensure our free trade agreements maximise opportunities for Welsh businesses and Welsh products and to promote iconic Welsh produce – such as Welsh lamb
and beef – in underdeveloped markets across the globe.

Our focus on markets and sectors which will generate growth in Wales in the medium to longer-term will capture industries which also help deliver our longer-term sustainability goals, such as net zero. The renewable energy sector, including wind, nuclear, tidal and hydrogen, provides a wide range of exciting future opportunities for Wales.

Finally, our placed-based regional, local and community renewal – through city and growth deals and the local growth funds – enables regions and localities the length and breadth of Wales to decide for themselves how best to use UK government funding to generate economic growth. They also help realise the ambition of levelling up the
whole of the UK.

There are 2 categories of threat to delivering these opportunities. First, ‘external’ threats, the key one being a resurgence of COVID-19 transmission preventing or delaying delivery of the government’s programme. The successful and continuing roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and cautious, phased easing of restrictions make this a low to medium risk.

The second threat is ‘internal’, with the government failing to work with local partners in Wales to make the most of the many opportunities arising from delivering our programme for government, EU transition and COVID-19 recovery.

The impacts would include delivery of the city and growth deals in Wales. Threats are both practical – with deals failing to achieve their planned objectives; achieving them late and/or over-budget; or not sustaining a pipeline of deliverable projects – and reputational, with partners including the Welsh government and local authorities potentially questioning UK ministers’ commitment to regional and local growth programmes.

In terms of the new local growth funds, threats include Welsh local authorities not fully engaging in the programmes and priority areas not submitting as many good quality bids as expected under the UKCRF and UKLUF. The outcomes of securing economic growth and strengthening Wales’s role within the Union could be jeopardised as a
result.

4. Our resources

4.1 Our finances

i. Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL): £5.147 million
ii. Resource DEL (including depreciation): £5.322 million
iii. Capital DEL: £0.30 million
iv. Annually Managed Expenditure (AME): nil

Source: Main Supply Estimates 2021/22.

5. Our people

As at 31 December 2020, the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales had 47 full-time equivalent employees.

Source: ONS public sector employment data / Release schedule: quarterly

5.1 Breakdown of resource by work

In this environment, the importance of our work has never been greater. We need to have the resources to do our work effectively and respond to new priorities as they arise. The table below shows how, in broad terms, our resources are allocated to our different priority outcomes. These resources do not include the OSSW’s support services, including ministers’ private offices and corporate services (such as finance and human resources).

C. Priority Outcomes Delivery Plans

Outcome 1: Support economic growth in Wales

1. Outcome strategy

The OSSW’s role is to identify and articulate the particular needs of Wales and where there is potential for greatest impact. It then influences and collaborates with other UK government departments, the Welsh government and regional and local bodies and stakeholders in Wales from the public, private and third sectors to deliver economic growth, both in absolute and relative terms. The OSSW has no programme budget nor any direct policy levers.

The OSSW works with lead government departments – including BEIS, MHCLG, DMS, DfT, HMT and DIT – to prioritise sectors and areas for future growth in Wales. This prioritisation fits within the government’s UK-wide approach to growth and renewal – the Plan for Growth; building back better as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, levelling up the whole of the UK and creating green jobs through the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. It falls within 3 broad areas:

1. Prioritising support in economic sectors for future growth. The sectors which provide the greatest potential for future growth in Wales and which support the delivery of strategic, UK-wide UK government goals, such as levelling up and net zero.

2. Levelling up all areas of Wales through UK government regional and local growth funding, including city and growth deals, the UK Community Renewal Fund, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the Levelling Up Fund and the Community Ownership Fund. These deals and funds will also serve to strengthen inherent weaknesses in the Welsh (and UK) economy, including investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation.

3. Investing in projects which deliver jobs and long-term growth. This includes, for example, the £30 million in UK government match funding for the proposed Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCORE) announced in Budget 2021; investing in better connectivity across Wales (and better digital connectivity in particular) and investment in renewable energy projects to support the delivery of net zero and contribute to the UK’s delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (see later in this section) – for example the £4.8 million announced in Budget 2021 for the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub.

The OSSW works with other UK government departments, the Welsh government and local partners to deliver UK government commitments for Wales, including commitments made in the 2019 manifesto.

These commitments and other priorities are set out in the Secretary of State for Wales’s Plan for Wales. Whilst other UK government departments are responsible for delivery of the Plan in their respective policy areas, the OSSW is responsible for shaping and monitoring its delivery, committing the time and resources necessary to achieve that objective and thereby supporting jobs and economic growth in Wales.

Broadly, there are 3 categories of policy priorities in the Plan:

1. Project-based investments in key growth areas and to help deliver UK government strategic goals.

2. Placed-based investment to maximise the outcomes from UK government expenditure at the regional, local and community levels. Examples include UK government expenditure on the four city and growth deals in Wales and spend in Wales on the new local growth funds.

3. Expenditure to deliver improvements in the delivery of reserved public services in Wales, including justice (courts, prisons, probation) and policing. The effective delivery of these services is also a key driver in delivering priorities 2 and 3.

The OSSW has no programme budget to deliver this outcome. We rely on supporting, influencing and collaborating with other departments to deliver the Wales Plan, using their programme budgets accordingly.

2. Metrics for this outcome

In delivering this priority the OSSW is focused on increasing jobs and economic growth in Wales, both in absolute terms and relative to the other regions and nations in the UK. There are 5 strategic metrics for measuring delivery of this outcome:

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Wales
• value of Welsh exports
• percentage of businesses that are innovation-active in Wales
• percentage of premises passed with a gigabit connection in Wales
• fiscal deficit per capita in Wales (£)

Delivering the Wales Plan and our priorities under it should contribute to increasing values under these metrics. However, there are many external variables that will also influence whether and to what extent they would improve. For example, the value of Welsh exports will also be influenced by the speed and success of Welsh businesses adjusting to the new trading arrangements with the EU following the end of Transition and by the trajectory and speed of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The OSSW will continue to work with HM Treasury to develop these metrics further and with almost all UK government departments to deliver this outcome – most notably BEIS, DfT, DIT, DCMS, MHCLG, CO and HMT.

Outcome 2: Strengthen and sustain the Union and Wales’s role within it

1. Outcome strategy

The strategy for delivering this priority complements those for Outcome 3 and the cross-cutting outcome to which the department contributes. Delivering projects to support economic growth and employment in Wales (Outcome 1) will also clearly demonstrate the UK government’s relevance and benefit to people in Wales and therefore act to strengthen support for the Union.

Ensuring that Wales plays a meaningful and proactive role in the United Kingdom is part and parcel of the OSSW’s work and key activities are taken forward in the following areas:

1. Collaborating with departments to support key policy areas that have a strong association with people’s national identity and views on the Union, in particular culture and the Armed Forces.

2. A key element of support for the Union is founded on the belief that the constitutional settlement that forms its basis is fit for purpose. The OSSW therefore acts as the centre of expertise within government on the Welsh devolution settlement, working to:

• ensure that UK government legislation and policies reflect the interests of Wales and the UK as a whole
• promote and support productive engagement between the UK government and the Welsh government
• work with the Welsh government and Senedd Cymru to ensure that the Welsh devolution settlement operates effectively and that Senedd legislation reflects the devolution boundary

The OSSW has lead responsibility for the Welsh devolution settlement and works closely with colleagues in the UKGG and Northern Ireland Office to ensure a coherent cross-government approach to strengthening the Union. Delivery of specific interventions to strengthen the Union are the responsibility of the relevant lead department.

2. Metrics for this outcome

The metric for measuring delivery of this objective is:

• Publicly available indicators of support for the Union – opinion polling (per cent)

This indicator includes measures of people’s attitudes to the Union as a whole; Wales’s role within the Union and indicators of support for Welsh independence, further devolution or abolition of the Senedd and Welsh government, including data trends over time.

Data will be obtained via publicly available polling, including that produced by polling organisations such as YouGov, Survation and Ipsos Mori; the Welsh Barometer Polls commissioned by the Welsh Governance Centre and the annual St David’s Day Poll carried out for the BBC. The Senedd election on 6 May 2021 has also contributed indicative data.

The baseline for measures of success is, in part, the St David’s Day Survey 2021.

Outcome 3: Increase the visibility of the UK government’s commitment to Wales

1. Outcome strategy

The OSSW supports work to deliver this priority in 3 main ways:

1. Working with almost all UK government departments to ensure they have a presence in Wales (including senior civil servants where appropriate)

This will increase the UK government’s visibility in Wales and help facilitate departments’ engagement with key stakeholders in Wales and with the Welsh government. In the short term we are working with the Office of Government Property (OGP) and Government Property Agency (GPA) to ensure UK government departments locate staff in the newly opened UK government Hub in Cardiff (Ty William Morgan).

The early focus of this is to ensure a presence from a key number of departments which are central to delivering policy priorities to Wales. In the longer term, we are seeking to maximise opportunities for Wales from the relocation of Civil Service posts from London and the south east and from the programme of UK government hubs.

2. Maximising the visibility of UK government spending in Wales and the benefits and outcomes of this expenditure

The UK government is investing £790 million in the four city and growth deals in Wales, co-funding the deals with the Welsh government. The UK Community Renewal Fund and UK Levelling Up Fund, delivered through UK Ministers’ funding powers in the Internal Market Act and close working with Welsh local authorities – also provide new opportunities to demonstrate UK government support in Wales, building on the broad recognition of successful UK-wide COVID-19 support schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough) and the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

3. Enhancing the UK government’s presence in Wales

A crucial element in demonstrating the UK government’s commitment to Wales is countering a perception that Wales is overlooked and ignored at the UK level; that policies in reserved areas of competence are developed and delivered at a distance from Wales and without reference to feelings and perceptions in Wales. The OSSW is central in UK government efforts to counter this perception, through:

• enhancing our presence
• increasing the frequency of UK Ministers’ visits to, and engagement with, Wales and Welsh stakeholders
• increasing the number of policy announcements making specific reference to, and being announced from, Wales

The Places for Growth Programme is led by the Office of Government Property (OGP) and the Government Property Agency (GPA). The objective of the programme is to relocate 22,000 Civil Service roles from London and the south-east to the UK nations and regions by 2030. Decisions on relocation are made by UK departments themselves. Alongside this, the Hubs programme led by the GPA is rationalising the government’s estate across the UK.

To ensure most UK government departments have a presence in Ty William Morgan the OSSW works with each department, HMRC (as the lead occupying department for the new Hub) and the OGP and GPA.

The OSSW’s role is:

• to encourage and facilitate the relocation of Civil Service roles to Wales (in particular policy roles)
• to work with other UK government departments to ensure the recently opened UK Government Hub in Cardiff – Ty William Morgan – is seen as the visible presence of the UK government in Wales and houses staff from almost all UK government departments
• to secure regular visits to, and presence in Wales by UK government Ministers
• working with OGP/GPA, ensure the UK government maximises its presence in Wales and takes forward plans for UK government hubs in Wales

The purpose of this work is to demonstrate the value and relevance of the Union, and the UK government, to people in Wales by increasing our presence and visibility in the nation; by reflecting more directly matters relevant to Wales in departments’ policy development and delivery and by contributing to Welsh economic growth by increasing the number of civil servants in Wales through relocation and local recruitment.

The OSSW is not a programme department and holds no budget under the Places for Growth programme.

2. Metrics for this outcome

• Cardiff Hub – UK Government Departments’ Numbers and Type

Measures under this indicator include:

• numbers of departments represented in the Cardiff Hub
• grade and role of civil servants located in the Hub
• number of UK government departments represented in Wales
• number of UK government civil servants located in Wales

Encouraging and facilitating greater Ministerial presence is a key element of the OSSW’s work. However, the OSSW does not currently keep a record of the quantitative indicators of Ministerial visits to, or policy announcements made in, Wales. We recognise however the need to develop metrics to effectively track progress.

How our work contributes to the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

Outcome evaluation plan

The successful delivery of Outcome 1 depends largely on the successful delivery of the programmes and projects in the Plan for Wales – including 2019 manifesto commitments. These include programmes such as the city and growth deals and the new local growth programmes in Wales, and specific projects in a variety of policy areas. Whilst other UK government departments are responsible for delivery of the plan in their respective policy areas – working closely with the Welsh government and local partners in Wales – the OSSW is responsible for shaping and monitoring its delivery and thereby supporting jobs and economic growth in Wales. Delivery of the Plan is kept under constant review, in part feeding into delivery of outcomes 2 and 3.

The purpose of priority outcomes 2 and 3 is to demonstrate the value and relevance of the Union to people in Wales by increasing the UK government’s presence, visibility and impact in the nation; by reflecting more directly matters relevant to Wales in UK government departments’ policy development and delivery and by contributing to economic growth in Wales by increasing the number of civil servants through relocation and local recruitment. The successful delivery of outcomes 2 and 3 will be informed by the extent to which Wales is factored into the UK government’s policy development and delivery and will be measured, ultimately, by levels support in Wales for the Union.

D. Strategic enablers

1. Workforce, Skills and Location

There are 3 cross-government objectives:

1. Reinforcing the systems for talent management and performance management to address the personal and professional development needs and reward performance in line with government and departmental priorities.
2. Continuing to remove barriers to recruitment, development and promotion of a diverse workforce.
3. Ensuring that your organisation reflects the country we serve by relocating staff, including SCS, from London.
   (The third objective is of only limited application to the OSSW given our size and the fact that our staff are, and will continue to be based in London and Cardiff).

The OSSW’s key people priorities for 2021 to 2022 are:

• ensuring we attract, select, onboard and retain the best people for the OSSW
• ensuring high performance by supporting people to give their best and operating fair reward and recognition
• succession planning through identifying, attracting and developing talent and capability
• enhancing the learning culture thereby adding maximum value to a leaner organisation
• embedding an inclusive culture where people feel they belong and can be themselves

To fulfil these priorities, we will:

• understand why staff decide to leave the OSSW by undertaking exit interviews
• upskill and coach line managers to have regular and meaningful performance and talent conversations with their teams
• review the OSSW’s Reward and Recognition policy to ensure it operates fairly and consistently across the OSSW
• promote the importance and use of L&D days and ensure the annual L&D budget is used
• explore strategies to increase the number of staff from under-represented groups

We will measure the success of our people strategy by using the following metrics:

• Annual People Survey results – year on year increase in departmental engagement score
• Act on feedback from exit interviews – progress reported to SLT biannually
• Average working days lost, benchmarked against the civil service average
• Turnover, benchmarked against the civil service average
• Tracking talent trajectory year on year and ensuring this translates across to the departmental succession plan
• In line with the OSSW’s zero tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and discrimination (BHD), reduce the percentage of staff stating they have experienced or witnessed BHD within the Office, as measured by the People Survey inclusion results
• Aim to increase the number of staff from under-represented groups, with targets to:
  • increase female staff from current 39% to 50% by 2023
  • increase ethnic minority staff from current 14% to 16% by 2023
  • increase disabled staff from current 19% to 20% by 2023
  • maintain representation of at least 50% of Senior Leadership (SCS) from under-represented groups
• Increase in the use of the OSSW’s Reward and Recognition policy
• Increase the percentage of staff stating that the L&D activity they have undertaken has made them more effective in their role, as measured by the People Survey.
• Continue to review workforce requirements in line with departmental priorities and values. Contribute to the Government’s Places for Growth and Levelling Up priorities by, where appropriate, reallocating staff roles and resources from London to Cardiff. Currently the OSSW has 26 London-based staff and 21 Cardiff-based staff.

People survey engagement score

Source: Civil Service People Survey / Release schedule: annually.

Representation of female staff, ethnic minority staff and disabled staff

(*March data except 2019 December data).

Source: Civil Service diversity and inclusion dashboard / Release schedule: quarterly.

2. Innovation, Technology and Data

The OSSW has limited opportunities to decide how and when to refresh our technology and systems. As a small department our IT and most telephony services are provided by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). Renewal of IT and updating of IT systems for the OSSW therefore falls as part of MOJ upgrade programmes. The OSSW also holds limited datasets – almost none relating to personal data aside from staff data.

The cross-government objectives have therefore only limited application to the OSSW:

i. Invest in tools, processes, standards and frameworks needed to enable safe, secure data sharing across departments to support decision making and improve services.
ii. Renew IT systems to automate and fully digitise repetitive manual processes and update outdated legacy IT systems.

Our focus on new ideas is on organisational culture and culture change; encouraging a workforce who are keen to generate ideas and new ways of working, and to challenge conventional norms. Influencing the priorities and delivery of other government departments mean that new ideas and challenging traditional processes are part and parcel of our people’s skills set.

Our approach to measuring new ideas is via the Civil Service-wide annual People Survey, in particular:

2020 People Survey

3. Delivery, Evaluation and Collaboration

The OSSW constantly strives for better outcomes in delivering its strategic priorities. It does so in 2 main ways:

3.1 Better organisation of the OSSW and being more streamlined in our delivery

The OSSW’s small size and limited resources mean that we need to work closely with other government departments, formally and informally, to deliver our priorities. This joint work includes:

• Working with other constitutional departments and teams within UK government as part of UKGG to enhance the voice and heft of the Territorial Offices in policy making.
• As part of this, working as one UKGG to enhance UK government’s research capability and reach, to improve the base data on which to found policy decisions. In particular, to refine UK government research in Wales (and the other nations) to inform better the policy solutions developed by UK government and their effects on the ground.
• Working toward continuous improvement and efficiency in the delivery of our services, including by sharing more back office services with other UK government departments. In early 2021, we established a shared finance team with the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, building on the many other services the OSSW shares with other UK government departments. Through 2021, we will work with the other Territorial Offices to identify how our other back office services can be shared.
• In the medium term, we will explore options to move to a common IT platform with the other constituent teams in UKGG.

3.2 Maintaining a strong, regular and meaningful dialogue with our key stakeholders and opinion formers in Wales

• The OSSW will continue our strong and regular dialogue with stakeholders in Wales at Ministerial and official level. As the face of the UK government in Wales, the OSSW maintains strong links with stakeholders in all sectors in Wales, providing a direct conduit between Welsh stakeholders and opinion formers and strategic decisions taken by the UK Cabinet.
• Our role as the face of the UK government in Wales provides a gateway for other departments to develop stronger links with stakeholders in Wales. This is especially important, for example, as we work with MHCLG to build effective working relationships with local authorities in Wales to deliver the UKLUF and UKCRF.

3.3 There are 3 government-wide objectives against which the OSSW measures better outcomes:

i. Strengthening functional expertise and delivery, ensuring adherence to functional standards and effective monitoring of performance

We do this by:

• regularly reviewing progress of delivery against the departmental business plan and divisional business plan and updating the OSSW’s Strategic Risk Register and divisional risk registers.
• reviewing the OSSW’s performance and plans regularly against feedback from stakeholders and opinion formers in Wales.
• ensuring our qualified staff continue their training and accreditation needed to maintain or upgrade their qualifications (e.g. our Chief Accountant and Chief and Assistant Economists).
• continuing to plan for sharing more back-office services with other government departments, to improve the OSSW’s resilience and enhance our expertise. This builds on sharing IT, payroll, strategic HR and facilities services with the Ministry of Justice; a Parliamentary team with the other Territorial Offices; a Freedom of Information team with the Northern Ireland Office and, most recently, the Office’s finance function with the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.

ii. Managing the planning cycle in such a way that it engages all staff in delivering priorities, through a well understood, efficient and transparent process

We do this by:

• The OSSW is a small department. All staff are engaged in developing and delivering our priorities, our business plans and our risk assessments, including through weekly all-staff and divisional meetings.
• Staff are encouraged to engage in, and collaborate with, business planning and reporting on delivery, in a culture of openness and respect. This includes suggesting how things could be done better.

iii. Providing transparent accountability through regular reporting, both within the department, to the centre, to Parliament and to the public

We do this by:

• continuing regular and robust internal reporting on key indicators of the OSSW’s performance, including budget and spend, people / HR and delivery of the business plan. This includes regular reporting to the Departmental Board and Senior Leadership Team.
• enhancing the OSSW’s reporting to the Centre, including through the reporting requirements under this Outcome Delivery Plan.
• continuing the OSSW’s reporting and accountability to Parliament, including through submission of its Annual Report and Accounts to the Welsh Affairs Select Committee and regular Committee scrutiny sessions with the OSSW’s Ministerial team.
• meeting the targets and measuring the indicators listed in the table overleaf.

3.4 Wales Office indicators for better outcomes

• Ministerial Correspondence (% answered within 15 working days).
• Ministerial Correspondence (% of follow-up correspondence on the same subject within 30 days).
• Freedom of Information (FOI) requests (% answered within 20 working days)
• FOI requests (% of requests appealed and % of requests referred to the Information Commissioner)
• % payments made to external suppliers within 30 days.
• % payments made to SMEs within 5 days.
• Annual Report and Accounts published on time (% frequency over last ten years)
• Ministerial engagement with key stakeholders and opinion formers in Wales (% of department’s “top 50” stakeholders engaged quarterly).
• Budget holders with required level of knowledge and understanding for the role (% of budget holders trained).
• % of back-office functions shared with other government departments.
• % of staff undertaking all mandatory training annually.

4. Sustainability

The OSSW’s sustainability enablers fall into 2 categories.

First, sustainability in the delivery of the UK government’s policies, programmes and plans in Wales. Many of these plans support the government’s strategic sustainability goals, including net zero by 2050 – for example, the government’s ambitions on renewables in Wales, as exemplified by the £4.8 million provided in Budget 2021 for the Holyhead Hydrogen Hub.

The OSSW has no direct responsibility for policy or delivery of specific SDGs. The contribution of the OSSW’s 3 priority outcomes to achieving SDGs are as set out in lead departments’ ODPs and/or are subject to projects appraisal processes under regional and local growth programmes. Further information on this is at Part C of this Plan.

Second, sustainability as part and parcel of the OSSW’s activities. The OSSW endeavours to model the behaviours and values underpinning the SDGs when going about its business. There are 2 government-wide objectives to which the OSSW contributes:

i. Ensuring that we are able to meet our greening government commitments and continue to monitor and track their delivery.

ii. Continuing to ensure that our estate, activities and policies are sustainable and support climate change resilience and adaption.

The greening government commitments require departments to act to significantly reduce environmental impact. Read more about these commitments.

The OSSW’s carbon reduction commitment is managed by the Ministry of Justice. The OSSW is committed to reducing its environmental impact by:

a. increasing the range of items that can be collected for recycling in both of our buildings
b. replacing printers with more energy efficient models
c. using public transport where possible rather than cars when having to travel to meetings

Where the OSSW draws on services supplied by the Ministry of Justice or under contract to them, our contribution to government commitments on environmental impact and sustainability are met within those wider frameworks.

The move of our Cardiff office to the new UK Government Hub, with its state-of-the-art facilities, delivers a significantly greener estate for the OSSW. We would expect future measures of sustainability for our Cardiff Office to be cross-departmental, including all departmental occupiers of the new Hub.

The GPA assumed responsibility for our London Office (Gwydyr House) in April. Whilst the scope to adapt the building to make it more sustainable is limited by its Grade II listed status, the GPA is responsible for any adaption which take place.

4.1 Greenhouse gas emissions

Source: Greening Government Commitments annual reports / Release schedule: annually

E. Our equality objectives

We have set objectives to help us advance equality. These are:

1. Support the government-wide ambition that by 2022 50% of all public appointees are female and 14% of public appointments made are from ethnic minorities.
2. Contribute towards achieving the Welsh government’s target of one million Welsh language speakers by 2050, in terms both of the OSSW’s role as lead department for the Welsh language within UK government and conducting some of the OSSW’s work bilingually. Currently 15% of the OSSW’s staff speak Welsh.