Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. In the few minutes I have to respond to the debate today, it would be impossible for me to put in the window everything I’ve got in the shop, to use Hannah’s phrase, because it has been such a wide-ranging debate and we are doing so much in this field.

But, I’ll start by saying that the Welsh Government has prioritised social care as a sector of national strategic importance. This isn’t a new approach, of course—our Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 was developed in response to the Welsh Government’s 2011 White Paper, ‘Sustainable Social Services for Wales: A Framework for Action’. The Act is based on the fundamental principle that whilst demand is rising across social services, and the financial outlook for all public services is difficult, we do need to do more than just pursue the obvious efficiency savings. The Act gives us a new legal framework for the way in which we provide care and support services.

In Wales, we continue to invest in social care to ensure the delivery of high-quality care and support. The 2017-18 budget includes an additional £25 million for social services, and this extra support has been welcomed by local government and will help respond to pressures. I’ve also announced a further £10 million of recurrent funding to help to manage the impact of the national living wage.

Standards can best be raised when partners work together. In order to increase resilience in health and social care, we need to take a whole-system approach to planning and service delivery. The intermediate care fund has been developed to develop new and innovative models of integrated working between health, social services, housing and the third and independent sectors. Sixty million pounds have been set aside this year, and ‘Taking Wales Forward’ includes a commitment to retain this important fund. The ICF supports initiatives that prevent unnecessary hospital admission, inappropriate admission to residential care and delayed discharges from hospital. These initiatives have created capacity in the care system and have improved consistency in the provision of services within regions.

The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act provides for the establishment of seven regional partnership boards on a health board area footprint. These boards bring together health, social services, the third sector and other partners to take forward the effective delivery of integrated services in Wales. Their purpose is to improve the outcomes and the well-being of people, and improve the efficiency and the effectiveness of service delivery. ‘Taking Wales Forward’ also includes a commitment to invest in a new generation of integrated health and social care centres. Forty million pounds has been announced to support this, and organisations are in the process of prioritising plans as part of their estates and service-planning work.

So, whilst we can support point 1 of the motion today, we can’t support points 2, 3 and 4, for a number of reasons. There are approximately 384,000 carers in Wales providing dedicated support to their loved ones, and we’ve heard how, in practical terms, this care equates to more than £8 billion a year. But it’s simply not true to say their contribution is unappreciated. The Welsh Government recognises that we owe our carers a great debt of gratitude, and that’s why we’ve long sought to improve the lives of carers. In 2000, we published our ‘Carers Strategy for Wales’, which provided a framework for delivering services and support for carers. In 2010, the Carers Strategies (Wales) Measure was introduced, further improving support for carers locally, and the groundbreaking Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act enabled us to build on our progress and strengthen our commitment to carers. The Act recognises explicitly the key role played by carers and will give them rights to assessment and support that are equal to those of the people they care for. And I’m very familiar with the survey to which Rhun ap Iorwerth referred, having already discussed it myself with our carers’ forum, and as a result, I’ve written to all local authorities in Wales on the issues that you described, and I’ve also asked my officials to look further in-depth at the findings and, of course, there will be this three-stage monitoring process for the implementation of the Act.

I also announced the intention to refresh our current carers strategy in my written statement, which was published on Carers Rights Day. The strategy will be developed in partnership with carer networks, organisations and carers themselves, building joint ownership and capturing the issues that really matter, and I give Members reassurance that young carers are a particular focus of this piece of work. The work will include examining a national approach to respite care, because carers tell us that this is a major priority for them, and discussions have already begun with third sector organisations on what the detail of this might be. And I can reassure you also that some of that work includes discussions with the Carers Trust, relating to the approach that has been described in Scotland.

In the meantime, we expect health boards and local authorities to work together to plan and deliver care and support as locally as possible. This includes respite care to support carers in their vital role. Respite care should be flexible and be able to take place in a wide range of settings, including at home and in the wider community. I’m aware that the closure of community hospitals continues to receive much attention, but I would correct Mark Isherwood: there is no Welsh Government community hospital closure programme. It’s for local health boards, working in partnership with their local communities, to determine the care that’s necessary for local needs.