Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Mike, for that question. And can I thank you for consistently raising in this Chamber issues related to loneliness and also issues related to older people? Because I know you chair the cross-party group on older people, which I attended recently, so thank you very much for that. Yes, I believe it's absolutely crucial that we do all we possibly can to make contact with...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Nick, for that question. I absolutely agree that it is widespread. I think we tend to think of it as older people who are suffering from loneliness, but it's specifically younger people, and, as I said earlier, disabled people, people from the black and minority and ethnic community and people suffering from mental health problems. This has all been an additional...
Julie Morgan: We published revised care home visiting guidance on 1 February, which is consistent with the overarching guidance on alert levels for social care services. We are acutely aware of the impact on people’s well-being of prolonged separation from loved ones while visiting restrictions are in place. We will continue to keep the approach under close review.
Julie Morgan: The Office for National Statistics has reported 1,643 registered deaths involving COVID-19 to Welsh residents in care homes up to 5 March. This is around 21 per cent of all deaths involving COVID-19.
Julie Morgan: I thank Neil McEvoy for that question. It is obviously an absolute tragedy what has happened in care homes, and my sympathy and the Government’s sympathy is with all the residents and the families who have been affected. There is no question about the tragedy that has occurred. I think the Member will recognise that most individuals who reside in care homes in Wales are the older, more...
Julie Morgan: I thank Darren Millar for that question. The vaccination programme does continue to progress well. In care homes, nearly 96 per cent of care home residents have now received their first dose of the vaccine, which is great progress. He makes an important point about people moving to different settings and ensuring that the follow-up dose is given, and we will certainly take steps to ensure...
Julie Morgan: Diolch. As we mark Carers Week, I want to pay tribute to unpaid carers throughout Wales, whose everyday efforts to look after loved ones, friends and relatives, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic, should be respected and valued by us all.
Julie Morgan: This week, we celebrate the many tens of thousands of unpaid carers who are too often the unsung heroes. They are an integral part of Wales's health and care system and we need to support and help them to look after their own health and well-being. Our recent surveys show that a third of adults in Wales provide unpaid care for one or more hours a week. Carers Trust Wales estimates also that...
Julie Morgan: Diolch. Thank you very much for those questions. I welcome you to your post, and I was very pleased to hear you talk about the unsung heroes who are the unpaid carers. I think we certainly share those views. Certainly, £3 million is not a huge amount of money, but this is in addition to everything else we’re doing. We’re not starting afresh with £3 million. Of course, the main services...
Julie Morgan: Diolch. I also look forward to working with you in the shared brief, and thank you very much for the questions that you put forward. Certainly I welcome the Carers Wales report and the issues that it raises, and the figures that were given about the number of people—unpaid carers—who didn't get any break during the pandemic. I think, obviously, that is a matter of great concern. I did,...
Julie Morgan: I thank Jenny Rathbone very much for those questions, and I know she has raised with me on many occasions the difficulties that her constituents have experienced, particularly older parents or parents or the spouses of somebody who is suffering from dementia, and I'm very aware of how difficult this situation is. Obviously, when the pandemic started, the services had to close down for health...
Julie Morgan: We recognise the vital importance of respite and taking a break for maintaining the mental health and well-being of unpaid carers. On Monday, at the start of national Carers Week, I announced £3 million of new funding in 2021-22 to support emergency respite provision and development of a short-breaks fund.
Julie Morgan: I thank Delyth Jewell for that very important question, and I am very aware of the strain that carers have been under during this really difficult time. And I'm certainly aware of those people who are caring for people with a learning disability or people with Alzheimer's, that there is a great stress. And so I'm absolutely in sympathy with her in the point that she's trying to make. We have...
Julie Morgan: I thank you for that, again, very important question, because the needs of young carers are absolutely a high priority in the Government's planning, and we know what an enormous amount they do to care for their loved ones. On the £3 million, £1.75 million has already been given to the local authorities to support the existing respite schemes that they do provide already. The other £1.25...
Julie Morgan: Care Inspectorate Wales was made aware of concerns relating to the service and undertook an inspection as a result. Areas for improvement have been brought to the providers' attention, but not in relation to restrictive practices. Investigations by Cardiff social services on safeguarding concerns are ongoing.
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Laura Anne Jones, for those comments, and I absolutely agree that the children we're talking about are some of the most vulnerable children who need care and support, and should not suffer. The Welsh Government is committed to those vulnerable children having the best standards of care possible. As I said in my statement, these allegations are being investigated, so we're not in a...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Mark, for those comments, and certainly the behaviour that he described at the beginning of his contribution, about children being punished for engaging in behaviour that is due to their autism, is certainly not acceptable. And I think that we have all, as constituency MSs, experienced the difficulties that families have in trying to get the best services for their children who are...
Julie Morgan: Diolch, Llywydd. I'm pleased to be able to outline today our approach to ensuring that the real living wage is the minimum rate paid to care workers in Wales. We've long expressed our support for the Living Wage Foundation's real living wage, and this is something we would like to see implemented across all sectors of the economy. But we recognise that additional action is needed to ensure...
Julie Morgan: However, it is a complex sector, and we know that long-lasting change will need to be approached with a steady hand, and must be based on careful consideration. We will need to take a phased approach to implementing this commitment, which means that not all workers will receive the real living wage at the same time. This is because we recognise that employers and commissioners will need time...
Julie Morgan: I thank the Member very much for those remarks, and I'd like to reiterate our total commitment to the social care workforce. The pay issue has certainly not been kicked into the long grass. As I said in my statement, we need to do this carefully and cautiously because it is a very complex—. The care sector is very complex, and we need to do it in partnership, working with trade unions,...
