Huw Irranca-Davies: Indeed, I'll turn to that. He's foreshadowed some of the remarks I was going to come to, so bear with me and I'll come to that issue of what it looks like. The strategy, which encompasses the age-friendly communities, must promote the important role that older people play in society, including, as has rightly been remarked, those people who in older years want to continue working, and will...
Huw Irranca-Davies: It showed us that older people are, as has been mentioned in the opening remarks, particularly vulnerable to loneliness and isolation, and I'll come back to that in a moment. We all see that, by the way, as individual Assembly Members and in friends and neighbours and within our own communities, so I'll come back to that. We know from the assessment that there are increasing numbers of older...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. First of all, can I thank Janet for bringing this debate in front of us today, and also the other Members who have contributed, and those who have stayed here to listen to this important debate as well, on a very important topic? I also begin by paying tribute to the commissioner for older people, Sarah Rochira, who I met with early on in my...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Jane, thank you very much for your long-term support of this. Quite rightly, you recognise the role of the children's commissioner in advocating this for some time. I understand she has been supportive of the proposals that we are now bringing forward, and has said so—but also the wide variety of voluntary sector organisations that have also long campaigned for this. And I'm sure they'll...
Huw Irranca-Davies: David, can I thank you for your comments? Perhaps you and other Members here were ahead of their time, but this proposal is now catching up with you. Again, I would stress that I would very much seek to take this forward with as wide cross-party support as can be, and to those Members who've previously adopted alternative positions to the current proposal, I would genuinely say 'Engage with...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Caroline, thank you very much. I think this illustrates why in the 12-week consultation we do want to get all views into this, but without being under any misapprehension that the intention here is to remove the defence of reasonable chastisement. Now, again, in referring to the document, which we've put a lot of time into—in the consultation document, it does refer to what has happened in...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Julie, can I thank you very much for those questions, but also quite genuinely thank you and others over the years who've campaigned on this long and hard? I know it has been like Sisyphus pushing the rock continually uphill and then seeing it roll back for the following morning. But I think we are now getting there, and that is good to see. And that brings me to—. If I can deal with first...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Bethan, thank you very, very much for that indeed. I think many of the detailed issues that we're starting to touch on now we can get into as the consultation goes forward, but I'll try and answer some of them now as well, if it's of help. It's worth saying as well that, genuinely, I would like to engage with all Assembly Members of all parties on this, so that we do get this right in going...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, Angela, and I might begin actually by reinforcing that message. I think probably all of us in this Chamber, and the Welsh Government itself, would fully accept and endorse those sentiments that say that the vast majority of parents in Wales are those who want to bring their children up in a loving environment, and do it with great care, with great attention, with great...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, Llywydd, and a happy new year too.
Huw Irranca-Davies: I am very pleased today to be launching a consultation to inform the development of our legislative proposals to remove the defence of reasonable punishment. The national strategy 'Prosperity for All' recognises that confident, positive and resilient parenting is fundamental to preparing children for life, and the importance of providing help and support to parents. The Welsh Government is...
Huw Irranca-Davies: —all of your points. Well, thank you very much for those contributions. I'll write to clarify what's happened as a result of the 2014 Act in terms of the issuing of codes. Thank you.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch. [Interruption.] Yes. I will do my best to reply to a string of questions, but can I first of all just thank you, Suzy, for the broad welcome you have for the detail within these regulations, and also the clarity that the regulations do bring for providers? I think some of that clarity has come through, I have to acknowledge, the scrutiny that it has received in its transition to this...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Diolch, Llywydd, and I move the motion. The Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Bill was passed and became the Act, unanimously, almost two years ago. The Act provides the statutory framework for the regulation and inspection of social care services and the regulation of the social care workforce in Wales. There are several items of subordinate legislation flowing from the...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Simon reminds us of the fact that, whilst we cannot ever rule out any eventuality of an instance of abuse—on a child or an adult—we do recognise that it is incumbent upon us as Welsh Government, not only police, not only safeguarding boards, to be active within our determination, not only to deal with the historic issues that have been raised today in the Chamber, but also to ensure that...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you, again, for those additional comments and queries. And you're right in that there is a separate review within the Catholic Church itself of its safeguarding arrangements. We also note that the independent inquiry into child sex abuse is considering issues of failures of religious institutions, as part of the UK-wide inquiry. I can confirm that my officials have been in touch with...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you for those additional comments. Can I say that, in light of the recently emerging allegations and fresh allegations, Dyfed-Powys Police are currently engaged in ongoing investigations into these allegations? As such, I hope you'll understand, Darren, that it's not appropriate for me to comment further at this moment, because of the risk of jeopardising the police investigations and...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Any allegations of abuse are truly abhorrent, and survivors were not given the response they deserved when they first spoke out. We would advise anyone who suffered abuse to come forward in confidence and report allegations of abuse to the police by ringing 101 or to contact local authorities' social services or indeed the Truth Project on 0800 917 1000.
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you very much for those comments, and your welcome again, and the recognition of Carl's work in this area as well. One of the ways in which we're looking to take that step forward, and to avoid this postcode lottery situation, the way that there are differences, variability—. We want, by the way, to have innovation—we want innovation. We want it to be based on the needs of the local...
Huw Irranca-Davies: Thank you. And I'll reciprocate by saying that I look forward to helping the committee in its work, either appearing in person or by evidence, whichever you require, how often you require—perhaps not every week, but whenever you need me there. And can I thank you as well for your recognition, Nick, of what you, I think, termed the significant funding that is going in, not only on its own in...
