Julie Morgan: I understand that the Member is asking that the schools publish the data that they gather—
Julie Morgan: That could cause some difficulties, yes.
Julie Morgan: Yes. I think that is something that we could certainly discuss with schools in terms of making it available. Thank you. Where we have the levers for change, we will act in the interest of children's rights, but, as I've just said, the decisions made in Westminster do profoundly affect children's lives here in Wales, and we have debated that vigorously this afternoon. For example, the Minister...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you very much to the Members who've contributed to the debate, and thank you to those who thanked the children's commissioner for her work. I want to draw attention right at the beginning here that I didn't mention in my speech the creation of the Youth Parliament, and I'm very glad that Janet Finch-Saunders mentioned that because, obviously,...
Julie Morgan: Yes, of course.
Julie Morgan: Well, the commissioner is calling for every child with special needs to have transport, and we don't think it's necessarily necessary for every child because some children will be able to walk. So, if you take it in that sort of technical way, we are rejecting it for those reasons, but we do acknowledge that there are issues, particularly post 16, and that's what we're going to look at. And...
Julie Morgan: —yes, in a second—very concerned about children in care and is certainly very supportive of our agenda to reduce the number of children in care.
Julie Morgan: I can assure you that the Government has certainly considered the issue of parental alienation and England, in fact, has very much the same approach now as Wales. We've certainly come together in our approach to this and we're taking a very balanced, very non-emotive response to parental alienation and looking at it in a very balanced way. So, I can assure him that it is on our agenda. Thank you.
Julie Morgan: I'd like to begin by thanking Vikki Howells for convening this debate today on this very important subject. I think the short debates are very useful in order to highlight particular subject areas, and I think she's done that very well today. Social care is an area of public services that is getting much more attention, and I think the reason for that is that we can all see the demands on...
Julie Morgan: However, I know that Vikki is concentrating on adults in her contribution, but I think people don't often realise that it is children that are causing the most expense. We are trying to bring down the number of children that have to be looked after in care, but safety is the basis of bringing down those numbers. We have to better support families and communities, and build responses that will...
Julie Morgan: I thank David Rees for that question. I am having regular discussions about these issues with health and social care partners, as is the Minister, including meetings in Swansea Bay last week. It is vital to prevent unnecessary admissions and transfer people from hospital to their homes or community settings as soon as they are ready.
Julie Morgan: Thank you, David Rees, for making those very important points. We do expect health boards to work together with local authorities and with the third sector to ensure that people do return home from hospital as soon as they are fit to do so, because I think we all know about the damage of people staying in hospital longer, as well as affecting the flow through the hospital. I know from recent...
Julie Morgan: Angela Burns is right, there is sometimes difficulty over those different elements of funding. But it's absolutely essential that the patient, the individual, is at the absolute centre of the way that decisions are made. And I know that there have been projects, under the transformation funding, looking at how that can develop, and I hope that we'll be able to learn through that. Continuing...
Julie Morgan: I thank Janet Finch-Saunders for that very important question. I think we all appreciate the huge contribution that carers make—the 370,000 that she referred to—and we want to make their lives as easy as we possibly can. She mentioned that one of the Welsh Government's priorities was life alongside caring. It's also to ensure that carers can identify themselves as carers and that we know...
Julie Morgan: It was groundbreaking, in the Act that Janet Finch-Saunders referred to, that carers had a right to a carers assessment, and we want to ensure that as many carers as possible get access to that right. That's why one of our priorities is identifying carers and for carers to self-identify, because many people carry out the role of caring for a loved person and don't identify themselves as a...
Julie Morgan: Certainly, the £30 million was used very effectively by local authorities. The decision as to how it was actually used was left largely to the local authorities, because they are closer to their needs. But certainly, we know of the sorts of issues that they used that £30 million for: nine local authorities utilised this funding to support adult and older people's services; eight local...
Julie Morgan: Thank you for that question. We are continuing to monitor and review Choose Well materials to ensure these target the intended audience. We are also focusing specifically on a digital first approach this winter, while retaining the My Winter Health Plan scheme for those who don't have access to the internet or social media.
Julie Morgan: I thank Dawn Bowden for that very important question, and I would certainly want to commend the work of the Red Cross in the hospital in Merthyr Tydfil and also thank all staff across NHS Wales and the social care sector who, as we know from the discussions we've had here this afternoon, are working under pressure to provide care to the people of Wales. So we are working very closely with all...
Julie Morgan: Thank you—diolch. Can I start by thanking the members of the Children, Young People and Education Committee for the scrutiny of this Bill, and Members for their consideration of this very important legislation? This Bill is a simple one, with a very clear purpose: it aims to remove the defence of reasonable punishment. It removes the defence to an existing criminal offence, it doesn't...
Julie Morgan: We're debating removing the defence of reasonable punishment here today, and if I can go on just to comment on the new curriculum, the curriculum guidance is clear: learners should develop an understanding of the range of legal rights and protections that they have. We will ensure that that happens as the curriculum is developed. Therefore, I urge Members to reject the amendments proposed by...
