Julie Morgan: Thanks very much, Jenny, for those very important points. I think all the evaluation has shown that the childcare offer has really helped parents to get back to work, and it is parents who generally are on average or low earnings, because they would not have been able to afford the cost of childcare if they had to pay out of their own pockets. So, I think it has been very successful in...
Julie Morgan: Diolch, Llywydd. The death of any child is a cause of great sadness and I want to start by expressing my own deep sorrow at Logan Mwangi’s death, and to take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to Mr Ben Mwangi and Logan’s wider family for their awful loss. The publication last week of the child practice review following the murder of Logan has, I am sure, been an extremely...
Julie Morgan: The purpose of the child practice review is not that of investigation, but to consider our services and help us to learn what we can to improve what we can do to protect children. I am grateful to the review panel for ensuring that they considered areas of learning that have been identified in other reviews throughout Wales and England while conducting this child practice review. It is right...
Julie Morgan: I thank Gareth very much for his comments and thank him for the sorrow that he has expressed for this tragedy, recognising that, ultimately, the responsibility is with those three people who are incarcerated. I think the issue of COVID is an important issue and, certainly, the review refers to COVID on a number of occasions. I think it did make it more difficult because, certainly, all of the...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Heledd, for that contribution, and thank you for starting by reminding us of the gorgeous little boy that has been lost, and I think it's very important that we do remember that, and also for mentioning what his headteacher said, because I think you'll all have noted that in the report there was praise given to the school, and the fact that the school made great efforts...
Julie Morgan: I thank Huw Irranca-Davies for that contribution and, of course, as the local Member, he has great knowledge and understanding of this family and community. And I can absolutely assure him that the five national recommendations—the Welsh Government will take forward those parts of the recommendations that refer to us, and we will take them forward swiftly but thoroughly. And we will work...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Jane, very much for that. I know you feel emotionally about it, and I know you have a great deal of commitment to this area of work, and I thank you for your comments. I really feel that we need to get on with the recommendations in this report. There are a lot of other things we're doing as well; we need to get on with all of them, and we need to ensure that children are safer...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Tom, for that question. As you know, Care Inspectorate Wales have been working in Bridgend council already and reported earlier this year. And they said that they had seen some improvements, but they were going to continue to monitor and will be reporting back to me, and that is what is happening at the moment. So, Care Inspectorate Wales are looking at Bridgend's practice, and...
Julie Morgan: I thank Jayne for those questions. I think it's important to respond as quickly as possible, and we are responding already because we've already had meetings with a number of the agencies involved. But it's also important to get it right. So, I'm not really able to give a detailed timescale at this time, because I think it's more important for us to get in with the agencies and work out the...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Jenny, for those points, very important points, I think, about social workers feeling confident to be able to go into a house. We are developing, as I said in my opening remarks, a practice framework, so that all social workers will know what is expected at any particular incident, or at any particular thing that they are doing, there will be clear expectations of what...
Julie Morgan: Thank you.
Julie Morgan: Formally.
Julie Morgan: Diolch. I'll start by thanking the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this motion today, and also by thanking the Members for their contributions to the debate. I mean, this is such an important topic, and I know this is something where the concern is shared across the whole of the Chamber. Welsh Ministers are committed to protecting and supporting the health and well-being of all...
Julie Morgan: —and the need for a review elsewhere doesn't amount to the case for a review here.
Julie Morgan: I mean, we're obviously looking very closely at the reviews, and we've looked at the review carried out by Josh MacAlister in England, and many of the conclusions that he comes to are things that we are already doing here. So, we're certainly looking at what other reviews are doing, and that's causing part of our thinking. But, just to reiterate, our approach in Wales is rights based, unlike...
Julie Morgan: Yes, certainly.
Julie Morgan: I think I did respond to you when you raised a similar question in the oral statement last week, that we have already agreed that there will four joint reviews between the different inspection bodies of child protection procedures over the next two years. So, I think I did tell you that when I responded before. But we have done a lot of reviews, and I will repeat them: the thematic reports of...
Julie Morgan: Yes, I know. I'll be very quick. I'll finish now. I know that there are enormous challenges here in Wales, but we know what they are and we are acting on them. A review now would delay us in taking forward our plans, would divert resources, and I think would be of dubious practical value. As I said before, if I thought we would gain something, we would do it. So, it would be helpful to me, to...
Julie Morgan: Thank you. I welcome the opportunity to respond to this debate.
Julie Morgan: I'm really pleased to be here today, and I really welcome the constructive way that Peter Fox has introduced this debate and the proposals that he has made. We are all aware that our health and social services are facing extreme pressure this winter, and, as Peter said, this is the position across the whole of the UK. As well as continuing to deal with COVID-19 patients, of whom there are...
