3. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government budget decisions for social care? OAQ(5)0532(FM)

Yes. We’ve continued to protect social services with significant funding. An additional £55 million has been made available for social services in 2017-18, and that includes the £20 million a year for social care announced yesterday. We’ve also provided £60 million for the integrated care fund.

Well, thank you very much for that answer. I’m sure everyone will welcome the Chancellor’s £2 billion announcement for social care in England and, of course, that gives the Welsh Government the opportunity to use part of the not inconsiderable Barnett consequential for that to add to its own money that you’ve mentioned today. There is money now available for social care, which we would all be grateful for. What will you be saying then to Bridgend County Borough Council, which is taking £2.2 million of social care moneys out of next year’s budget?

I will say what I said earlier: what we need is a Labour Government in London that actually invests in people and provides the funding that we need to social care. I’m sure that is a phrase I will use many times over the course of the next few weeks.

Thank you, First Minister, for meeting with me last month to discuss my concerns about the impact that putting the family fund money in with the sustainable social services fund has had on disabled children and their families. Given that we now have this extra money available, and given your assurances to me in that meeting, and that these are some of our lowest income families who, in my experience, have to fight to get absolutely everything in their lives, will you now look at allocating some of this additional money to disabled children and their families?

My friend the Member for Torfaen has been passionate in her advocacy of this cause. She has asked me to see whether money might be made available. I will look at that for her, as she has raised it with me in the Chamber. As I’ve said, announcements have been made so far—not all of the consequential has been allocated. We have to take into account, of course, what will happen in the financial year beyond this one and the one beyond that. But I will look at that for her.

The efficiency of what you can achieve with social services funding depends, of course, on what happens within the NHS and vice versa. I believe that it’s the failure of Government to put firm and sustainable foundations in place for the NHS that is responsible for the overspend that has been announced over the past day or two. But does the First Minister agree with my concern that forcing the health boards to balance their books overnight would inevitably lead to more pressures on the social care sector?

We must bear in mind, of course, that the health boards have three years to consider their budgets. That’s why the law changed in this place, because they would then have to consider their budgets over the period of a year; now they have three years and it’s easier for them to balance their books in that regard. So, we do expect them, as they have been given that freedom, to ensure that they are responsible and can remain within their budgets.

First Minister, both Conservative and Labour Governments in Westminster, and successive Labour, Plaid and Liberal coalitions here in Wales, have failed to allow for sufficient funding for social care. As a result of—[Interruption.] As a result of decades of underfunding, we are approaching a crisis point in social care, and despite the fact that our population is ageing fast, neither you nor the Tories seem to have any plans to address chronic long-term shortages. Your Government has announced additional funding for social care, but this simply replaces lost funding. It does nothing to address future demand. First Minister, how does your Government plan to address the long-term funding shortfall and ensure that future social care needs are met?`

Well, if the Member looks at the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, she will see the answer to that question. We are committed to investing in the system. We know that combined spending on health and social services per head in Wales in 2015-16 was 6 per cent higher than in England, and one of the reasons why money had to be found at short notice in England is because not enough money went into social care in England. We put in the investment.

On top of that, of course, it's important to remember the £60 million we’re investing through the intermediate care fund. What does that mean? Well, delayed transfers of care for February were 22 per cent down on the same period last year, and this month marks the third consecutive month during which the total has been below 400, which is an unprecedented achievement over the 12 years of recording these statistics.