Huw Irranca-Davies: I'm glad to report, Mike, that our local authority funding towards children's and families' services spend has increased, in fact, over the five-year period from 2012-13 to 2016-17 by 24 per cent. It's gone up from £467 million to £577 million, but, of course, that is alongside the investment that we are putting into things like Flying Start, and other aspects of funding as well. And I...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Our priority for children’s services in Wales is to help families stay together where possible, avoiding the need for care. So, programmes such as Flying Start and family support services provide those families with early help, emotional and practical support so that all children in Wales can enjoy the same chances in life.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you for that question. Colleagues may be interested to know that we convened the first formal meeting of the ministerial advisory group on carers today. I met them in the centre of Cardiff. All the relevant stakeholders, from a wide range of organisations, are there. And, in a similar way to the work that's been taken forward by our colleague here, David Melding, on the ministerial...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Entirely. And, Caroline, if I can reiterate my earlier comments, which would be that the statutory framework in Wales is very different from across the border in England; it is very much—with the support of Members here, who took the legislation through—based on a person-centred approach, where that person should co-determine their package of support for independent living. It's not to be...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Absolutely. And I think everybody here would join you, Caroline, in wishing Paul the very, very best. In some ways, I can say he is a local boy, a local man, in my neck of the woods, slightly out of my constituency. But we're delighted that the local authority and the local health board have come together, very much, I have to say, based on the idea that we say regularly here within the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Deputy Presiding Officer, we cannot afford to sit back on the issue of supporting carers. The physical and mental well-being of those who contribute most to our society shouldn’t be at the bottom of our list of priorities.
Huw Irranca-Davies: They shouldn't be at the bottom of the list; they should be at the top of the list. So, I'm looking forward to working with the ideas that Members have brought forward today—ideas that we are currently working on, and the ministerial advisory group—to make real the way that we support carers, young and old, going forward, because we know that their compassion, their love, their care is...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Indeed. Thank you very much. Thank you for that intervention. Now, last year—. By the way, this assessment also includes the respite care reference in point 5 of the original motion, and I've been taking actions to ensure that these enhanced rights are realised, and that's what this is about. Now, last year, I announced £3 million of new, recurring funding to support local authorities to...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this important issue, and I’d like to thank my fellow Assembly Members for all their contributions this afternoon. The strength of the debate shows clearly that this Government has to prioritise ensuring that carers do receive the support that they need to live positive lives.
Huw Irranca-Davies: I'll do my best to address the main points raised, though time, as always, will be the enemy here, because there's a lot of amendments and a lot of points have been raised. I'd like to start with amendment 4. Unpaid carers, indeed, provide 96 per cent of care in Wales at a value of in excess of £8 billion. This is quite incredible; it shows the hidden economic value that is added to the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Formally.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you very much, Nick, for bringing this to the attention of the Senedd.
Huw Irranca-Davies: To conclude, Deputy Presiding Officer, I want to repeat that I appreciate the importance of the work that mothers and fathers do, and that's why the Government is providing a variety of interventions to support them in delivering this crucial work. I am entirely committed to ensuring that we continue to provide the best possible services to families the length and breadth of Wales.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Now, the points that you've just made on the importance of supporting dads in their role were very well made. The organisation Dads Can will be pleased that they've got a champion here in this Welsh Parliament to highlight their achievements, celebrate their work in this Parliament of Wales and to advocate as well, as you've just done, for their future ambitions as well. It's lovely to have...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer, and thank you, Nick, too. I'm pleased to respond to this short debate. One of the pleasures of being children's Minister is to meet children and their parents in all parts of Wales. I know that the vast majority of parents—like myself and you too, Nick, and others—want to ensure the best possible outcomes for their children and that they...
Huw Irranca-Davies: The Healthy Child Wales universal scheduled health visiting and school nursing contacts, for every child from nought to seven, will be available across all health boards by October, with enhanced intensive interventions delivered to those families and children with increased levels of need. And, of course, as we know, all children in Wales have access to the foundation phase, and our enhanced...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch yn fawr iawn, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you very much indeed. Can I thank, first of all, all those who have contributed to the debate today, those on the committee and those who weren't, but also to committee members and the Chair as well for turning a forensic light onto this? This is a flagship programme. It is, as I think has just been remarked, remarked upon internationally as...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you for giving way. Within the flexibility that's currently there, it's interesting to note that there are places like Swansea that are targeting it on particular groups outside of the Flying Start areas, such as the Traveller community and so on. The difficulty with monitoring the effectiveness is that the longitudinal data that you look for to see the lifelong outcomes—how do you do...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you. We have a way of working in Wales that is to do with sitting down with people and working through things together. I'm more than happy to meet. I know Simon well, personally and individually—you do as well, I know. He's a great individual. He's a campaigning fireball, he really is. It is an interesting idea and I think it does have some merit. We need to think it through though...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Caroline, I think you've probably done a favour in some way by raising it today, because the local authority, who are minded, by the way, to put the very right care and support, not simply for care but also for independent living, and part of independent living also is the ability to pursue sports, hobbies and the lifestyle that everybody should be entitled to—. Now, I know that they are...
