Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for her question. My officials meet regularly with colleagues in Northern Ireland, Scotland and England to discuss children’s rights and the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. These discussions include taking forward the 2016 recommendations made by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in full.
Carl Sargeant: Indeed, and the Member’s right to raise this. Promoting positive parenting in Wales is critically important, and learning from other nations is part of our approach, but we must recognise that solutions introduced by other countries are based on their own specific legal jurisdictions. Any legislation we take forward will be tailored to Wales, but the Member can rest assured that we will be...
Carl Sargeant: I agree with the Member. Part of my team and some members of the Government support mechanisms have been on a trip to the States only last week to look at interventions that are looking at adverse childhood experiences. I know that other colleagues have been across the world as well, looking at interventions that are very positive for our young people. We shouldn’t be shy of adopting those...
Carl Sargeant: I have announced a 12-month transitional period for Communities First to mitigate some of the impacts of the decision. Transition and strategy guidance has been issued to fully support the lead delivery bodies, who are currently submitting outline transition plans.
Carl Sargeant: As always, as the Member raises it with me, as well as Dawn Bowden and his other colleagues, I’m very interested in your views on this and how we can have a smoother transition for the people employed in the communities on the ground. I’m very interested in making sure that my team work closely with Caerphilly and other associations, and I’ve asked them to have a conversation with them...
Carl Sargeant: Well, these aren’t new schemes. Lift and Communities for Work and the PaCE programme weren’t available in all of the clusters. We are making sure Lift and Communities for Work will be available in all the 52 former Communities First clusters, investing £12 million, as the Member said, about taking people who are very hard to reach from the market into employment. That isn’t always...
Carl Sargeant: Will the Member take an intervention?
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Mark, for taking the intervention. I’m intrigued by your contribution, because I’ve received the letter of 5 September from all of the police constables in Wales, the all-Wales policing group, saying that, indeed, they agreed a joint statement that supports the devolution of policing to Wales. Where are you getting your information from, Mark?
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to debate this important issue here today. Thank you for all that’s contributed in the Chamber. The Welsh Government has always been very clear that we want to see responsibility for policing devolved to Wales. The Welsh Government supports the motion to note that policing is a devolved matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and...
Carl Sargeant: Well, we’re talking about the devolution of the police to Wales, and there is much discussion to be had about that. This discussion is about the concept, the principle of aligning that as a collective of this Assembly. The First Minister has been quite clear that we believe, alongside our police and crime commissioners here in Wales already, in providing a space of planning in order for...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I thank the Member for raising this important issue here today. She is quite right to point out a growing and serious risk. My best wishes to your mum, as well, in terms of her home being refurbished. Although fires and fire casualties are falling significantly, Llywydd—by around half since responsibility was devolved in 2005—we and the fire service are very...
Carl Sargeant: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I’d like to begin by thanking Dawn for giving us the opportunity to express our concern at this practice that landlords, or, more commonly, those taking in lodgers, should be advertising accommodation rent-free in return for sexual favours. That is abhorrent to us all. I condemn this devious practice, which takes advantage of the poverty and social...
Carl Sargeant: Well, I’m sure the Member will have much time to consider his contribution again, and maybe he will come round to our way of thinking, but I’m grateful for his views. These are not quick and easy issues to address, and my colleague is right in terms of that we need to look at the specific issues for rent for sex. Our opinions are, however, limited. An amendment to the registration and...
Carl Sargeant: All lead delivery bodies are currently finalising transition plans that will give detailed information on their activities for the year ahead. My officials have been supporting LDBs, including Cardiff, in the development of these plans and have been in regular contact. We look forward to receiving their plans shortly.
Carl Sargeant: We have an excellent record of providing support for post offices in Wales under the Post Office development and Post Office diversification funds. Post offices provide many important services to their communities including free access to cash and personal and business bank accounts.
Carl Sargeant: The Welsh Government will support a range of housing tenures, in Pembrokeshire and across Wales. We will continue to invest in social housing and home ownership. In addition, we are bringing forward new programmes aiming to make buying a home more accessible, and support innovation.
Carl Sargeant: Foster carers play a vital role in looking after children in care, and high-quality foster placements are essential in achieving better outcomes for children. We are developing a national fostering framework for Wales, which will build capacity and ensure more consistent outcomes for looked-after children.
Carl Sargeant: I thank the Member for his question. Our childcare offer will provide working parents of three and four-year-olds with 30 hours of Government-funded education and childcare for up to 48 weeks of the year. We will begin to test the offer in specific areas of seven local authorities in September.
Carl Sargeant: Of course, and we’re engaged with the sector. I am delighted that, in Swansea, there are many areas that are covered by this pilot and this will be a good spread of areas to test across schools sites and private day nursery settings. We will learn from this as we move forward, and I’m looking forward to the test areas starting in September in the new term.
Carl Sargeant: There is a plethora of offers that we are currently considering. There is a test pilot—a joint scheme between Gwynedd and Anglesey—exploring opportunities both in English and Welsh-medium settings. There is an issue with the workforce and making sure we’ve got capacity as we move forward, and that’s the benefit of a roll-out, as we’re doing here in Wales. In England—we’ve learnt...
