Julie Morgan: One of the things we are doing is setting up the Reflect project, which the Member may know about, which is for women who have actually had a child already taken off them, so they have already got one child in the care system. So, the Reflect project is an effort to try to stop that happening again. So, again, we've got that project rolled out all over Wales. It's not enough, there's a huge...
Julie Morgan: I think it's very difficult to know what has actually caused this rise in the number of children, and I know that there have been calls to look at why this has actually happened. It does seem to be for multiple reasons, and it's very difficult to actually choose one particular reason. But, certainly, in the work that we're doing now on trying to prevent children coming into care—I mean that...
Julie Morgan: As I said in answer to the question that you read it out, what we're trying to do is to prevent children needing adoption by trying to keep them at home with their families. So, we're investing in edge of care services, which are now operating in all the regions in Wales. We've given £2.3 million to help prevent children who have been adopted coming back into care, which does happen because...
Julie Morgan: Thank you for that question. Our primary aim is to support children to stay with their birth families where possible. Care decisions, including on adoption, are taken solely in the best interests of the child. The number of court-ordered adoptions has been falling, but we recognise that adoption can offer stable, loving families and good outcomes.
Julie Morgan: I thank Neil McEvoy for those comments. In terms of him asking who are the six local authorities, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to say who those local authorities were, because one of the things we're trying to do is to work in co-production with the local authorities and I want us to work together. So, I think it wouldn't be very helpful for me to name any local authority here...
Julie Morgan: I thank Joyce Watson for those comments and for her comments about Powys, where there has been this rise that she's illustrated. She refers to the care inspectorate report, and I can assure her that we have been meeting with Powys and reinforcing the importance of having this new framework, and I think that that is what is progressing at the moment. But I think she's right about trying to...
Julie Morgan: I thank David Melding very much for his contribution, and I'd like to reiterate my thanks for all the work that he has always done over many years, and is doing now on the MAG. So, thank you very much for that. I think he's absolutely right that the outcomes are good when they get care right, when we've exhausted every possibility for the children staying at home, and then we want to provide...
Julie Morgan: Yes, well, the Member is obviously absolutely right about the numbers rising every year and, yes, this is something that is certainly happening in England and Wales. It is an upward trend. And the reasons behind it I think are very complex. I think it does include poverty and deprivation, and the impact of the UK Government's austerity programme—I don't think we can discount that having an...
Julie Morgan: I thank Lynne Neagle for those questions. I've also visited the young offenders unit at Parc prison, and I think the fact that 40 per cent of those young people placed there have been formerly looked after is an absolute reason why we have to do something about this. And that’s why we're taking action, for that very sort of reason, because that is the consequence of the care system as we've...
Julie Morgan: I thank Helen Mary Jones for that extensive list of questions. I'll try and cover some of them at least. I just want to come up with the most important one, which is that of course we do not expect any child not to be taken into care if they are at risk of neglect or abuse. We want to do this safely, and we want to do it, as I've said already, for the benefit of the children, and that is the...
Julie Morgan: I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for those questions. We are bringing this statement here to this Chamber today because we are very concerned about the rise in the number of children in care, and I think I've gone through the ways that we hope to address it. She is right; there's been a 34 per cent increase over the last 15 years, and we just cannot let this go on. We can't let it go on for the...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. Our vision for children's services is clearly set out in our programme for government, 'Taking Wales Forward', and our national strategy, 'Prosperity for All'. I believe there is a strong cross-party consensus amongst Members of this Chamber that we all have collective responsibility to ensure that care-experienced children are provided with the...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I move the motion. The statutory instrument before you today makes minor amendments to the Regulated Advocacy Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2019. It is the intention that these amendment regulations come into force on 1 July 2019. Now, these amendments have been brought forward as a response to issues raised...
Julie Morgan: I thank Paul Davies very much for that question, and, indeed, I'd very much like to visit, perhaps, Solva Care and see exactly what they're doing, because what they're doing is completely in line with what we want to do as a Government. Certainly, combating loneliness and isolation, keeping people in their own homes, I think those are exactly the things that we are trying to promote as a...
Julie Morgan: I thank Helen Mary Jones for that question. I am aware of the correspondence that Helen Mary Jones had with the Minister about her constituents, and I'm aware of the distressing nature of what happened. I do believe that the financial failure of Allied Healthcare before last Christmas undoubtedly did put huge additional stress on the local health board and on the local authority. And, I think...
Julie Morgan: Ensuring that people have access to high-quality care is a key priority for the Welsh Government. This is why we are investing £180 million this year that will be targeted across the health and social care system to support the development of seamless models of care in all regions.
Julie Morgan: I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for raising that important issue. This is something that I will have to go back and have to look at, to look at the details, and come back to her with an answer.
Julie Morgan: What we already have done is we have increased money to cover the living wage, so that that will help care homes in bringing up the payments to their staff to the living wage. And we're also doing some of those things that I mentioned in my earlier question—we're doing all we can to improve the status of care home workers, because I think that is one of the crucial things to do. Because...
Julie Morgan: This is a matter of concern to the Government. We are concerned about the fact that the care system is stressed and we are trying to do what we can to rebalance the care sector. One of the things we're doing is to try and encourage different models of care. So, for example, we are encouraging local authorities to consider taking more care homes in-house. We also are looking to see if we can...
Julie Morgan: Levels of delayed transfers of care in the Swansea Bay University Local Health Board area are not consistent with the improvements across Wales over recent years. We are working with the health board and its local authority partners to increase service capacity through the effective use of integrated care funding.
