Social care

Statistics published by the Welsh Government. Each chart covers the years since the 2016 Senedd election, or as far back as the figures go, and marks each election since.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

How we show official statisticsFigures on this brief quoted in the Senedd (10)

The Programme for Government 2026 to 2030 belongs to the Seventh Senedd. Choose the Seventh Senedd to see how often each commitment has come up.

Source: Welsh Government, Programme for government 2026 to 2030: New ambition for Wales, first published on 10 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Mentions are found by matching the names of plans, bodies and schemes; a mention says nothing about progress.

The Welsh Government's latest press releases and Cabinet statements on this brief.

1. Cabinet statement, 7 October 2026

   Oral Statement: Stronger Safeguarding for a Safer Wales

   Delyth Jewell MS, Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health

2. Cabinet statement, 6 October 2026

   Stronger Safeguarding for a Safer Wales

   Delyth Jewell MS, Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health

3. Press release, 6 October 2026

   New safeguarding programme to strengthen protection of people at risk of abuse and neglect across Wales

   • New Safeguarding programme to strengthen protection for children, young people and adults at risk from abuse and neglect. • A new Ministerial Assurance Board and intelligence hub to detect warning signs earlier and…

The latest headlines on this brief, linking to each outlet's story.

• Ceredigion foster carers to receive £560 a week under new council deal

  Herald.Wales, 28 October 2026

• Council set to miss foster care target ahead of major changes to children's care

  South Wales Argus, 27 October 2026

• Calls for safeguarding review after 15-year-old arrested following school lockdown

  Nation.Cymru, 24 October 2026

Statements, debates and legislation in Plenary on this brief, newest first. Oral question sessions are counted in the contributions below.

1. 24 February 2026Legislation

   The Regulated Adoption Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) and Adoption Support Services (Local Authorities) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Wales) Regulations 2026

   Opened by Y Llywydd / The Llywydd6 contributions

2. 4 June 2024Statement

   Transforming Children's Services

   Statement by the Minister for Social Care

   Opened by Y Llywydd / The Llywydd19 contributions

3. 14 May 2024Statement

   Our vision for foster care in Wales

   Statement by the Minister for Social Care

   Opened by Y Dirprwy Lywydd / The Deputy Presiding Officer12 contributions

4. 22 November 2023Debate

   Safeguarding mistreated animals—Providing the RSPCA with statutory powers

   Short Debate

   Opened by Y Dirprwy Lywydd / The Deputy Presiding Officer7 contributions

5. 12 July 2023Debate

   Petitions Committee and Children, Young People, and Education Committee Joint Debate—Services for care-experienced children and young people

   Opened by Y Dirprwy Lywydd / The Deputy Presiding Officer47 contributions

6. 25 April 2023Statement

   Historical Adoption Practices

   Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services

   Opened by Y Dirprwy Lywydd / The Deputy Presiding Officer14 contributions

No votes in the Sixth Senedd have been tagged with this.

Votes are tagged from their own titles and the agenda item they were held under.

Ministers' meetings with outside organisations and their engagements on this brief, from the register the Welsh Government publishes every three months. 1 since the 2026 election:

1. 13 July 2026

   Bwrdd Diogelu Annibynnol Cenedlaethol / National Independent Safeguarding Board

   Meeting, Deputy Minister for Social Care, Mental Health and Women’s Health

Source: Welsh Government, ministerial meetings and engagements. The register is published three months or more after the meetings it lists.

70 written questions to the Welsh Government on this brief in the Sixth Senedd, 70 answered so far. The latest:

1. Laura Anne JonesReform17 February 2026

   What assessment has the Welsh Government made of safeguarding failures across both children's services and education affecting children in the Gwynedd Council area, and what action will be taken to address these failures in light of emerging issues in relation to the conduct of Neil Foden?

   To the Cabinet Secretary for Education. Answered 23 February 2026

2. Rhys ab OwenIndependent3 February 2026

   What action is the Welsh Government taking to strengthen Wales's life sciences ecosystem by scaling up the adoption of new medicines and innovations for lung conditions?

   To the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. Answered 6 February 2026

3. Siân GwenllianPlaid18 July 2025

   Which body is currently responsible for independent oversight of safeguarding arrangements in religious establishments, in light of a recent statement by the Children's Commissioner for Wales that there is lack of this type of oversight in Wales?

   To the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip. Answered 31 July 2025

4. Siân GwenllianPlaid18 July 2025

   Is the Welsh Government able to show that there is sufficient independent oversight of safeguarding arrangements in religious establishments in Wales, in light of the recent statement by the Children's Commissioner for Wales that there is a complete lack of independent oversight of safeguarding arrangements in…

   To the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Trefnydd and Chief Whip. Answered 31 July 2025

5. Andrew RT DaviesConservative27 June 2025

   What safeguarding measures existed to monitor the impact the intelligent routing protocol was having on 999 calls at its inception over the 2022-23 winter period, bearing in mind that a critical incident was declared by the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust on 18 December 2022?

   To the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. Answered 4 July 2025

All 70 written questions on this brief

No petitions on this brief opened in the Sixth Senedd.

Committee sessions where this brief was on the agenda, newest first.

1. 10 July 2024Health and Social Care Committee

   evidence session with organisations supporting children in care

   Health and Social Care (Wales) Bill

   93 contributions

2. 26 April 2024Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister

   Care-experienced children

   134 contributions

3. 11 December 2023Petitions Committee

   P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities

   93 contributions

4. 23 October 2023Petitions Committee

   Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities

   34 contributions

5. 25 September 2023Petitions Committee

   Evidence session - P-06-1307 The Welsh Government should commit to the adoption of the maintenance of new housing estates by local authorities

   67 contributions

6. 14 September 2023Children, Young People, and Education Committee

   exploring radical reform - Ministerial scrutiny session

   Services for care experienced children

   177 contributions

7. 9 March 2023Children, Young People, and Education Committee

   exploring radical reform—evidence session 14

   Services for care experienced children

   134 contributions

8. 9 March 2023Children, Young People, and Education Committee

   exploring radical reform—evidence session 13

   Services for care experienced children

   144 contributions

Articles by Senedd Research, the Senedd's impartial research service, on this brief, published in the Sixth Senedd.

1. Scrutinising the new First Minister on support for Care Experienced Children

   26 April 2024

   On 26 April 2024, the Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister is holding a scrutiny session about support for Care Experienced Children with the new First Minister, Vaughan Gething MS.

More from Senedd Research on this subject

Titles and summaries are Senedd Research's own, © Senedd Commission. How we match articles to briefs.

2,759 contributions in the Sixth Senedd, newest first.

1. Jeremy MilesLabour

   28 March 2023, Plenary

   Statement by the Minister for Education and Welsh Language: Tackling the impact of poverty on attainment

   …co-location in the school or a network of connections, so that school, but also housing services, children's services, primary healthcare—all those services are part of a seamless offer. Some schools are doing that very well. Many schools want to do more of that, and I think there is much more we…

   Tagged for: “children's services”Official Record

2. Luke FletcherPlaid

   28 March 2023, Plenary

   Statement by the Minister for Economy: The Free-port Programme in Wales

   …to know how the Government will monitor the free ports going forward. For example, we've talked about safeguarding workers' rights and a living wage. How will the Government ensure that companies operating in a free port zone will meet the requirements in the first instance, but, equally, in the…

   Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

3. Vaughan GethingLabour

   28 March 2023, Plenary

   Statement by the Minister for Economy: The Free-port Programme in Wales

   …for regeneration, the embedding of fair work, the establishment of hubs for global trade, and fostering an innovative environment to be felt in both north and south of our country. Each free port would be supported by up to £26 million of seed investment funding. That's confirmed parity with England…

   Tagged for: “fostering”Official Record

4. Darren MillarConservative

   28 March 2023, Plenary

   Questions to the First Minister

   8. What action is the Welsh Government taking to promote the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism by organisations in receipt of Welsh Government funding? OQ59334

   Tagged for: “adoption”Official Record

5. Mark DrakefordLabour

   28 March 2023, Plenary

   Questions to the First Minister

   …eligibility and care planning, charging and financial assessment, children who are looked after, safeguarding and partnership working.

   Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

6. Sioned WilliamsPlaid

   27 March 2023, Equality and Social Justice Committee

   Motion under Standing Orders 17.42(vi) and (ix) to exclude the public from the remainder of the meeting

   …because the Children, Young People and Education Committee is doing an inquiry at present into care-experienced children and reform, I think it would perhaps be wise to send a copy of the letter to the Chair, Jayne Bryant, because it would be very relevant. The committee is currently working on the…

   Tagged for: “care-experienced”Translated from WelshOfficial Record

7. Rhidian Hurle

   27 March 2023, Equality and Social Justice Committee

   Data justice: the use of personal data in the Welsh NHS: evidence session 2

   …In a digital world, we, within Digital Health and Care Wales, provide that facility. So, that's a safeguarding element, which has allowed us to develop trust with our key partners who are sharing information, particularly, initially, primary care, and we can provide that. I'm going to bring Ifan in…

   Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

8. Sioned WilliamsPlaid

   27 March 2023, Equality and Social Justice Committee

   Data justice: the use of personal data in the Welsh NHS: evidence session 1

   …therefore? What should the Government be doing to ensure that it does operate within those five aims of safeguarding? And I like to ask also whether there are any specific areas of concern around e-prescribing. For example, could it be used to monitor adherence to a programme of medication, when…

   Tagged for: “safeguarding”Translated from WelshOfficial Record

9. Ann John

   27 March 2023, Equality and Social Justice Committee

   Data justice: the use of personal data in the Welsh NHS: evidence session 1

   …in hospital and GP data, and we linked it to a small, anonymous link—so, privacy protecting—to a health child protection data set, so that we could look at who was there and who wasn't there in both data sets, and both have weaknesses. So, making sure that the infrastructure and funding highlights…

   Tagged for: “child protection”Official Record

10. Samuel KurtzConservative

    23 March 2023, Economy, Trade, and Rural Affairs Committee

    Group 8: Intervention in Agricultural Markets – Input Costs (Amendments 16, 17, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)

    …of food can continue. By supporting these amendments, we also seek to enhance our food security by safeguarding the agricultural industry from unprecedented events and changes, and therefore it's with this that I wish that Members support these amendments. Diolch, Cadeirydd.

    Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

11. John GriffithsLabour

    23 March 2023, Local Government and Housing Committee

    Local Authority Library and Leisure Services - evidence session 1

    Anybody able to point to any examples of the impact of the Act in safeguarding and protecting these services? Jennifer.

    Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

12. Jennifer Huygen

    23 March 2023, Local Government and Housing Committee

    Local Authority Library and Leisure Services - evidence session 1

    …and library services, because the associated well-being goals play a significant role, actually, in safeguarding leisure and library services in Wales. But that doesn't necessarily mean that that is recognised yet on a local level, with local government obviously implementing the well-being of…

    Tagged for: “safeguarding”Official Record

13. Sarah MurphyLabour

    22 March 2023, Plenary

    Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd

    Wonderful. My colleague Huw Irranca-Davies, the MS for Ogmore, and I recently met with Cats Protection in their Bridgend adoption centre to discuss the work that they do to improve the welfare of cats in Wales and across the UK. According to Cat Protection's latest 'Cats and Their Stats' report…

    Tagged for: “adoption”Official Record

14. Rebecca EvansLabour

    22 March 2023, Plenary

    Questions to the Minister for Finance and Local Government

    …for three new projects, helping us to deliver our programme for government commitment in respect of looked-after children.

    Tagged for: “looked-after children”Official Record

15. Julie MorganLabour

    21 March 2023, Plenary

    Statement by the Deputy Minister for Social Services: Update on the Health and Social Services Regional Integration Fund

    …complex care closer to home; promoting good emotional health and well-being; therapeutic support for looked-after children and helping families to stay together; home from hospital; and accommodation-based solutions. So, we're concentrating the money that we're putting into the RIF on those six…

    Tagged for: “looked-after children”Official Record

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