Julie Morgan: Diolch, and diolch, bawb, for your contributions to today's debate on the children's rights scheme. I'm very grateful for your continued support and scrutiny of our work, because, as Members have noted, children's rights are now more important than ever, as we've seen the profound effect the pandemic has had on children and young people, because children are less likely to be visible and less...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much. In terms of the workforce, I'm sure that the Member is aware that there is extensive training for the social care workforce in Wales. The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 introduced strengthened and robust safeguarding arrangements for Wales. It established a national independent safeguarding board, and regional safeguarding children boards, to support...
Julie Morgan: Diolch. Thank you very much for those very important questions. We will do all that we can to ensure that there is face-to-face contact with children and with families in another potential lockdown. During the previous lockdown period, we are aware that there was not face-to-face contact with many families, although it did continue with some families. Sadly, the position, really, is that we...
Julie Morgan: I thank Alun Davies for that very important question, and this is an issue that I have worked on closely—and am working on closely—with the Minister for education, because, obviously, it's an issue that concerns both departments. We are developing proposals that will further strengthen the existing framework around elective home education to help ensure that children who are educated at...
Julie Morgan: Absolutely right, the community have to be the eyes and ears, because it is not possible for social services officers and departments to be there and to see everything. So, it is incumbent on all of us, if we see something we're concerned about, to act on it. Obviously, the review that has been set up by the UK Government will come forward with proposals, I'm sure, and we will look very...
Julie Morgan: Thank you. It is vital that all children and adults with a neurodevelopmental condition, including those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, can access the services that they need. A demand and capacity review of all neurodevelopmental services will report in March, and we will act on the recommendations it makes for improvement across Wales.
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Natasha, for that question, and thank you very much for the work that you've been doing to raise the profile of ADHD. I think it's been well publicised, and thank you for that. We know how important it is to concentrate on assessment and support for neurodevelopment conditions, which includes, of course, ADHD, and, of course, includes adults. And the review I've already...
Julie Morgan: Thank you. The Welsh Government has already committed to providing the recommended personal protective equipment to social care workers, free of charge, until the end of the pandemic. This is managed through regular deliveries to local authorities for their onward distribution to public and private services.
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, Mabon, for that question, and, obviously, this is of great importance to your constituent. I think the best way of dealing with the individual situation is perhaps if you write in about that situation. We will take it up to look at the specific circumstances that you're referring to. Certainly, enhanced PPE, such as FFP3 face masks, is recommended in instances where a...
Julie Morgan: Formally.
Julie Morgan: Diolch. Welsh Ministers are committed to protecting and supporting the health and well-being of all children and young people in Wales. Wales has led the way on tackling adverse childhood experiences. Public Health Wales's findings about their prevalence and impact showed us the personal, social and economic impact that ACEs could have on individuals, their families and society as a whole....
Julie Morgan: Yes, certainly.
Julie Morgan: I had a meeting, actually, yesterday, with the ACEs team, where they described the individual research that they were doing, and it seemed to me that they were measuring in that research what the impact of ACEs was and what progress it was making. So, I think perhaps we should look at that in more detail, because they're definitely doing a lot of research on those lines. But, as I said, I...
Julie Morgan: Diolch. I'm very pleased to be able to update Members of the Senedd on the tremendous progress we've made towards paying social care workers in Wales the real living wage, one of our key priorities in the programme for government. In June I made a statement on the approach I would take to implementing this commitment and explained I would be asking the social care fair work forum for its...
Julie Morgan: In December, I announced we would pay the real living wage of £9.90 per hour to registered social care workers in care homes and domiciliary care, in both adults' and children’s services, and to personal assistants funded through direct payments. Focusing on these workers recognises our broader ambition to improve the quality of services and strive for parity of esteem with other key...
Julie Morgan: Well, I thank Gareth Davies for those remarks, and I think I'm rather amazed at his attitude towards this announcement. This is certainly a first step towards improving the lot of social care workers, and it has been widely welcomed, as has the £1,000 payment. So, I'm very surprised at his attitude to this statement today. Why have we paid £9.90? This was a commitment in our programme for...
Julie Morgan: Diolch, and thank you very much for those very positive comments and your welcome for this as a step towards the—a step in the right direction, shall we say? I absolutely support the comments that the Member has made. We do want to reach parity of pay and respect. We know what a hugely responsible job care workers are doing, and we do see this, again, as, I say, a first step on that...
Julie Morgan: Thank you very much, James, for welcoming the announcement and the comments that you've made. I think it's absolutely vital that we do all we can to attract more people into the system. I'm aware that care packages are being given back due to staff shortages. We have been working very hard to try to attract more care workers. We've had a huge advertising campaign, which many people will have...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Mike, very much, and thank you for your welcome for these proposals. I absolutely agree that everyone in Wales needs to be paid the real living wage, but what we're tackling here are the people who directly deliver social care. And those who deliver it indirectly, of course I think they should be paid the real living wage as well, but what we're trying to do is boost the profession...
Julie Morgan: Thank you, Darren Millar, for welcoming this payment as a step in the right direction. I welcome his support. Yes, senior care staff and managers will receive the additional payment, and I think that I want to repeat, really, that our purpose is to try to professionalise the workforce—those who are directly giving care, the direct care givers. We did give two recognition payments during the...
