, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
One of the big challenges we know that we face is about the urgency for change and, at the same time, there isn't a switch to flick that changes outcomes for people, because the support that you need, the intervention you need, to prevent children from going…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Yes. I'll ask Alistair and Taryn to come in and talk about both some of what we're doing and what it means in practice. The former First Minister was not a fan of having lots of targets. One of the targets that he did introduce was in the reduction in rates…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
So, that is the programme that we're engaged in, and it's the challenge of delivering a longer term change and needing to have—going over to what Llyr Gruffydd pointed out—choices that are made over more than one year and the consistency in what we're doing…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
It's worth reflecting that Mark Drakeford was my predecessor as the health Minister as well, and when I was his deputy in that role, he had a very clear view that we were taking too many children into care. Part of the reason why I came into Government was…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
We'd like to be able to do that, and at various points in time of the life of this institution, we've been able to. The challenge is that, even after the last UK spending review, we were clear that there would be really radical differences between one year…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Yes, of course, we'll continue with not just the declaration, but the deliberate and planned engagement between myself as First Minister and other Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers with care-experienced children and young people. As I said earlier to James…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Well, the challenge is that we need to see the evaluation reports themselves, and we can't put the cart before the horse. We've had one initial evaluation report published in February, and we need to see as the evidence firms up and hardens. The first, that…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
So, it's part of Cardiff University who are doing the evaluation for us. That's due with the final report expected in 2027, and we can't understand whether a pilot's been successful without hearing directly from the voices of people who have taken part in the…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Well, I'm entirely open about that and that's the reason for having the pilot. It's a pilot to understand if it delivers the improvement we want it to. Because we've had such a high take-up—you don't normally get the levels of take-up we've got; our…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
So, we still have £20 million allocated to the pilot [correction: We initially allocated £20 million to the pilot] and so it then depends on the take-up and the length of time people access it for. If we do need to find more resource, then we'll do so…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Yes, I'm happy to say that our expectation is that the Bill will be introduced in the week before Whitsun recess. The Bill has been improved in drafting terms. It's also an opportunity for the new Minister, who will take the Bill forward, to have more than…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Well, Dawn Bowden is the lead Minister for Social Care. The clue is in the title. She is the Minister for Social Care; other Ministers have an interest. The education Minister has an interest for understandable reasons: what happens in the first 1,000 days…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
—it would matter to you about those first early days, when everything is new and difficult. Children don't come with a manual. And yet actually, we know that, for children and young people in the care system, those first 1,000 days are even more important as…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
I think there are two points, probably, to make in response to that, James. The first is that a leadership manifesto does not cover every single area of life that matters, because it can't. If you write a telephone directory, you'll still miss something, and…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Well, there are two quite different questions there. The first, about signing the declaration, I don't have any problem with at all, because this Government remains committed to delivering improvement. The second, about the recommendations of the CYPE…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
So, we have an understanding of what care-experienced children and young people think and what their lived experience is because we are deliberately engaging and listening to them. The recent summit is one part of that exercise, but it's not the only one…
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Thank you.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Yes. To my left is Alistair Davey, deputy director of social services and enabling, and to my right is Taryn Stephens, deputy director of social services improvement.
, Committee for the Scrutiny of the First Minister
Care-experienced children
Bore da, Cadeirydd.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for the follow-up question. I think this recognises some of the challenges we have, not just in financing, but in getting more people to use the options that we have. So, on the bus grant, we've been through this many times in the Chamber, and our…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
We are focusing on improving rail services, integrating public transport options, and meeting the needs of future generations across Mid and West Wales.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for the question.
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I think there are two broad points to mention. The first is that the decision made by Steve Barclay is simply for England. He decided not to carry on funding local air quality management scheme support in England. That would have been £6 million in England…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
Thank you for the question. The UK Government’s decision not to fund its local air quality grant scheme does not impact Wales. It solely supports English local authorities, which will not have access to that scheme. However, in Wales, on 19 April, the Cabinet…
, Plenary
Questions to the First Minister
I think there is much that is not just sensible in what the Member has said, but it's actually where this Welsh Government wants to get to as well. And I can tell her that the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care regularly talks to me about the need…
