Monitoring and reporting
39.The monitoring and reporting provisions place requirements on Welsh Ministers to monitor and report on the progress made towards achieving the SLM objectives. The provisions detail the requirement to set indicators and targets, as well as to prepare a report. The reporting and monitoring provisions make provision for scrutiny and engagement with stakeholders and the Senedd. They also act to provide an on-going evidence base for the support of future policy trends and best practice to be identified.
Section 4 – Sustainable Land Management indicators and targets
40.Section 4 requires the Welsh Ministers to prepare and publish indicators and targets to measure progress towards achieving the SLM objectives through the exercise of the functions to which the duty in section 2 applies.
41.Subsection (1) requires the Welsh Ministers to prepare a statement which sets out indicators that are to be applied to measure progress towards achieving the SLM objectives through the exercise of the functions to which the duty in section 2 applies, and targets in relation to those indicators.
42.Indicators will provide metrics by means of which the contribution of an action to the SLM objectives can be measured. Targets will set out the desired level of progress against the metric a specific indicator details.
43.For example, the third objective (“maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems and the benefits they provide.”) may be addressed by several indicators, one of which could be a decrease in the levels of pollutants in rivers downstream of agricultural and ancillary activities. A specific target would then be set against that indicator and both the indicator and target would be reported against in the SLM report prepared under section 6.
44.Subsection (2) provides that the statement must contain, as a minimum, at least one distinct indicator for each SLM objective, and at least one distinct target relating to at least one distinct indicator for each SLM objective. This is to ensure accurate and effective accounting of progress.
45.Subsection (3) to (5) provides that the statement may also set out further indicators (each of which may be for one SLM objective or more than one), and further targets (each of which may relate to one indicator, whether set under subsection (2) or subsection (3), or to more than one).
46.Subsection (6) provides that an indicator or target may relate to Wales or any part of Wales.
47.Subsection (7) provides that a target may be set by reference to any period that the Welsh Ministers consider appropriate.
48.Subsection (8) provides that the statement must be published and laid before Senedd Cymru by the Welsh Ministers no later than 31 December 2025.
49.Subsection (9) provides that the Welsh Ministers may review and revise the statement at any time and subsection (10) provides that subsections (2) to (8) apply in relation to a revised statement as they apply to the original statement.
50.Subsection (11) provides that where the Welsh Ministers revise the statement, they must, as soon as reasonably practicable, publish the revised statement and lay it before Senedd Cymru.
Section 5 – Steps to be taken in preparing or revising indicators and targets
51.Section 5 sets out the steps that must be undertaken in preparing or revising indicators and targets.
52.Subsection (2) requires the Welsh Ministers to have regard to certain reports, policies and other matters when preparing or revising indicators and targets.
53.This seeks to ensure that the SLM monitoring and reporting takes appropriate account of wider sustainability goals, policies and reporting, to the extent that they are relevant.
54.Subsection (3) requires the Welsh Ministers to consult the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and any other persons they consider appropriate when preparing or revising indicators and targets.
Section 6 – Sustainable Land Management reports
55.Section 6 requires the Welsh Ministers to prepare and publish SLM reports and details the content and timings of those reports.
56.Subsection (1) requires the Welsh Ministers to prepare a report in relation to each reporting period (as defined by subsection (9)).
57.Subsection (1)(a) provides that the report must set out the Welsh Ministers’ assessment of the cumulative progress made, since section 2 came into force, towards achieving the SLM objectives through the exercise of the functions to which the duty in section 2 applies.
58.Subsection (1)(b) also requires the report to set out the Welsh Ministers’ assessment of the progress made, during the reporting period, towards meeting those objectives through the exercise of those functions.
59.Subsection (2) states that the report must set out, in relation to each indicator in the statement (or revised statement) published under section 4, the progress made in relation to that indicator during the reporting period and how that has contributed to achieving the SLM objectives.
60.Subsection (3) provides that the report must also set out, in relation to each target in the statement (or revised statement), whether the target has been achieved during the reporting period.
61.Subsections (4) to (6) specify the provision the report must make depending on whether during the reporting a period a target has been achieved (subsection (4)), has not been achieved (subsection (5)), or the Welsh Ministers have not yet been able to determine whether a target has been achieved (subsection (6)).
62.Subsection (7) sets out other matters that SLM reports may assess and report on. These may include the key priorities, risks and opportunities in relation to achieving the SLM objectives, and the effect that the progress made towards achieving those objectives has on the achievement of other goals e.g. Wales’s net zero 2050 goal.
63.Subsection (8) provides that the Welsh Ministers must, no later than 12 months after the end of each reporting period, publish the report that relates to the reporting period and lay it before the Senedd.
64.Subsection (9) defines the “reporting period” and subsection (10) confers powers on the Welsh Ministers by regulations to amend subsection (9). This regulation making power enables the Welsh Ministers to amend, for example, the length of the reporting period. This power to make regulations is subject to the affirmative resolution procedure (section 50(6) and (7)).
Section 7 – Steps to be taken in preparing reports
65.Section 7 sets out the reports, policies and other matters that the Welsh Ministers must have regard to in preparing SLM reports. It seeks to ensure that SLM reporting is conducted in the context of wider reporting and sustainability actions undertaken in Wales and that appropriate data is considered in the reporting of progress towards the SLM objectives. It also seeks to encourage a cohesive approach to the reporting, of environmental and other actions across Wales.
